


Back To You

by redsandman99



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-03-19 10:38:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 90,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3607080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redsandman99/pseuds/redsandman99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seth's lost it all: no Authority, no briefcase, no friends, nothing. All he wants back now is Dean, who isn't as happy to watch his fall from grace as he wants to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I've been planning on doing for months now. I'm trying to be in the habit of not having too many full length stories going at once, which is why I've only started it a couple of days ago. I am excited to be doing this one though and here's hoping it turns out alright.

The sound of the referee's hand hitting the mat for the third time filled Seth's chest with sinking feeling he was getting all too used to. He had lost. Again. Despite the way his mind had screamed for it, his body hadn't been able to kick out of Ryback's Shell Shocked. That delighted the crowd to no end. They roared their approval as Ryback got up and started celebrating. The referee stepped over Seth's body to raise the big guy's hand. Seth just laid there, keeping his eyes firmly closed while his teeth bit down on his bloody lower lip. He wasn't even surprised this was the result. Losing was the only thing he was good at these days. He lost to Orton at Wrestlemania, he lost the match against Roman where he cashed in his briefcase, he lost his safety net of the Authority because Sting wiped the floor with Hunter at Mania and Vince was so ashamed he removed them from power once more - so at this point, losing a preshow match to fucking Ryback was not a shocker. It still stung though. He was better than this. Even without the Authority in his pocket, he was completely better than this.

Now if he could only get it together to show everyone that.

He finally got it in him to roll out of the ring. Ryback's music was still playing. The big lug himself was heading to the back. Seth wasn't sure who the cameras were focused on. He hoped it wasn't him. He hung his head to hide his face just in case as he started heading for the back. The fans were yelling shit at him, but he tried to just tune it out. He didn't need them. Hell, he enjoyed having them hate him. He felt like he performed better that way. The looks he received once he was backstage though? That was a whole different ball game. Fans that hated him only had to be dealt with for a short while at a time. He could get away from them. His co-workers though? Not so much. It had been one thing when he had The Shield or The Authority with him. He could stand having everyone else hating him when he had someone to fall back on. And now there was nobody. All he had was himself, which was bad given the fact that he could barely stomach the sight of his own reflection.

The looks he got backstage were beyond smug. They were enjoying every single moment of his fall from grace. He made a point to ignore them as he headed back to the room he was using to dress in. Nobody wanted him around, so he typically just grabbed whatever he could as far away from everyone else as possible. Tonight was actually a supply closet near the boiler room. The only good thing that came from that was knowing nobody would come and mess with his shit tonight. The boiler rooms of any arena they went to tended to be where Bray Wyatt lurked around. Nobody beyond pathetically desperate him went remotely in that direction if they could help it.

Seeing Orton talking to Cena at the end of the hall made Seth duck around the corner, leading him to a hall that would not take him anywhere near the boiler room. The inconvenience though was worth it. He didn't want to be anywhere near Randy. He was fairly certain the other man still wanted to kill him. So instead he hopped up on to the trunks that were pushed up against the wall, pulling his knees up to his chest so he was as unnoticeable as possible. The people who passed through here at least had the decency to not notice him. They were all too absorbed in their won stuff. First came AJ and Paige, who were arguing yet again. Brie and Daniel Bryan were next, Brie yapping a million miles away while Daniel just listened. Zack Ryder, Luke Harper, Sheamus and Mark Henry passed by alone. Stardust did stop to hiss at him, but that was just because Cody was a twit who lost his fucking mind. Seth couldn't take it personally since he did it to everyone.

Seth stayed rooted to his spot, not daring to go anywhere until he heard the sound of Randy's music blaring. A sigh of relief escaped him. Orton was facing Bray Wyatt tonight, meaning he would be occupied for at least the next twenty minutes or so. It was the perfect opportunity to go get his stuff and then head back to the hotel to shower and change his clothes. He kept his head down still as he went, his eyes still watching his surroundings even with the cover of his hair over his face. He made it down the hall he had tried to get down before and turned to the right. In theory, most of his co-workers would be focused on either watching the ppv on the catering monitors or standing by the gorilla position, getting ready for their matches. There was no reason for him to be bothered.

Of course, what was in theory didn't always mean jack shit. Not anymore anyway.

Seth saw Dean before Dean saw him. His former teammate and ex-boyfriend was sitting at the top of the staircase he needed to get down to get to his little hole in the wall. Dirty blonde hair was a disheveled, curly mess. His shirt was gone, his skin still glistening with sweat. The Intercontinental title laid across his lap. Seth knew Dean had been feuding with Barrett over it still. Barrett had chased Dean relentlessly since WrestleMania, leading to the 2 out of 3 falls match that had been scheduled for tonight. It had been Barrett's last chance for as long as Dean remained champion. Barrett had clearly failed, which brought a small smile to Seth's face. There was pleasure in knowing he wasn't the only one around here to fall off the rails, though in truth, even as he scrambled to deny it in his own head, how happy Dean looked holding the championship was what he really liked.

Dean turned and made eye contact with him. He stiffened, his eyes going wide as he was caught staring. Blue eyes narrowed and he winced. Just over a year ago he had made the choice to turn his back on Dean and Roman, ending it all in a vile, brutal way. Hunter had whispered in his ear for almost two months, offering him promises of fame and glory and everything else under the sun. And he had let himself be seduced by it. His ambition to get to the top was wild and his ego was both bigger than it should have been and extremely fragile to boot. Career wise, he had gotten scared of being left behind. Roman had everything the McMahon family would want in their top star, meaning they would subtly shift the pieces of the board to help get him there, even with Hunter creating opportunities for guys he wanted at the top of the mountain. And Dean would get there whether anyone liked it or not. He was the one everyone had buzzed about when the Shield burst on to the scene. He was the one the fans were really behind to get what he deserved. Not that he needed them. He was conditioned to thrive on negativity. But either way, he would get to where he wanted to go. That just left Seth, who, despite knowing he was the best wrestler of the three, knew he didn't have the look or power of Roman or the kooky, irresistible charisma of Dean. Being one of the best wrestlers in the company didn't always mean shit when your company was one like the WWE. So he had sold out, becoming the golden boy Hunter wanted his top guy to be.

And for awhile, it had gone just so well for his career. He got the Money in the Bank briefcase, he either headlined pay per views or had the most talked about match; he had everything at his disposal. But even then, deep down inside, regret gnawed away at him. At night he would dream about the look on Dean's face as the realization of the betrayal set in. The shock, the horror, the look of sheer hurt - that always woke him up in a cold sweat, his heart aching with remorse his brain didn't want him to feel. The remorse served no real purpose to him. The moment he had started swinging the chair brought him to the point of no return. Dean's trust in him (and possibly in about anyone else not named Roman) was shattered with it. All the regret in the world wasn't going to change that.

"The fuck you want?" Dean was the one to finally speak. His eyes were narrowed and he had stood up, clutching his belt tightly as he glared at Seth. His whole body was tense, seemingly readying itself for an attack. The realization of that made Seth frown. Even with the understandable lack of trust, it wasn't like Seth had actually done anything to him in months. Their hell in a cell match had been the last time they had any sort of extended contact. It wasn't like it had been before.

"Hey." Dean snapped his fingers in Seth's face. "Mother fucker. The fuck do you think you're looking at?"

"Nothing." Seth didn't want to get into an argument. He was too sore and tired for that.

Dean's eyes narrowed. "Then go away."

Seth let out a huff. "You go away."

"I was here first."

"So? You've got your own locker room to haunt. Or did Roman get sick you and toss you out on your ass?"

The question made Dean stiffen and the look that flashed across his face made Seth curse silently at himself. Why couldn't he ever just keep his mouth shut? Was it really that hard?

The answer of course was yes. Yes it fucking was.

"The fuck do you even care?" Dean slung the title over his shoulder in a not so subtle bid to show off. "Don't you got another fucking match to lose?"

The comment was a direct jab to Seth's pride. But it was no worse than the shit Seth was already thinking of himself, so he just shrugged it off. Getting mad about it felt like too much effort anyway. "You mean tonight? Nah. I'm gonna save that for tomorrow on Raw. Maybe Smackdown too." He let out a long, bitter chuckle. "Hell, I'll do it for the rest of the year. Really go out of my way to cement my jobber status."

Dean's expression faltered. Something flashed in those clear blue eyes, but Seth couldn't bear to really examine what it was. He just pushed past Dean and went down the stairs. He could fel the weight of Dean's gaze following him as he went. He hated it. He hated the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He hated the way it put an extra pang of guilt inside his chest. And he really hated the way it still made his stomach flip in on itself. Four years and Dean still had that effect on him. The bastard. He made this harder on him without even having to try.

It wasn't much of a relief to get to his little room now. Not that he deserved it. Seth closed the door behind him and rubbed his glove covered hands over his face. He still needed to get the hell out of the arena, but he wasn't in much of a rush now that Dean was lurking around too. Instead he sat down and pressed his back up against the wall. He would wait a bit and then make a go for the door. Hopefully by the time he went, he could get away without running into Dean or Orton. He wanted to just get to his hotel so he could spend another sleepless night in peace. He had no real right to ask for much, but he at least still wanted that.

* * *

_"Seth Rollins is cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase!" Michael Cole's announcements mixed with a huge chorus of boos from the crowd. Roman was struggling to get to his feet, clutching at his ribs as he kept his eyes on Seth. Of course Seth would pick now to do this. Roman had just gone through a match against Sheamus and had suffered a post match beat down from Brock Lesnar, who was still infuriated over losing to Roman at WrestleMania. The Authority may have been gone, but Seth still had this one last trick up his sleeve._

_The match didn't last very long. Seth came in with a flurry of offense, eventually hitting a curb stomp. Roman, being the machine that he was, kicked out at the last moment. Seth nearly came unglued, pounding his hands into the mat and arguing with the referee. That was what cost him. It allowed Roman to get the energy to move out of the way of a second curb stomp. He came back with a devastating spear and that was it._

_One...two...three..._

_"Your winner and STILL the WWE World Heavyweight champion, Roman Reigns!"_

Dean sighed as he paused the video. He sat on his bed, his eyes aching and begging for sleep. The hotel room he was sharing with Roman was completely dark. The larger man was right in the next bed, sound asleep already. The moment he had been out of it, Dean had stolen his I-pad so he could watch this yet again. He had lost track of how many times he had rewatched this moment. It was probably too many to be healthy at this point. But he couldn't help himself. Ever since it had happened, he kept on reliving it, hoping to spawn a change of reaction inside got what he deserved. He really had. The man had betrayed both him and Roman and then lied to the whole world, saying he never cared about Dean and all that stuff. Dean knew he had been lying. Or at least he told himself he knew it. Given that he never saw the betrayal coming, clearly he didn't know Seth as much as he had thought.

Dean put the I-pad aside and rubbed his eyes. Despite knowing that Seth got what he had coming, it hadn't stopped the ache in his chest when he saw Seth fail cashing in his briefcase. He knew how bad Seth had wanted it. They had spent countless nights in bed together, talking about getting the belt. He knew what it meant and even with fucking knowing that should have been his opportunity in the first place, seeing the fucking heartbroken look in Seth's eyes had made his heart hurt. And he hated it. He hated that he couldn't just hate the younger man and leave it at that. No, he had to go and have more complicated feelings than that. He had to hate sleeping at night because he didn't have Seth beside him. He had to miss going home with him on his days off. He had to miss the stupid little things the asshole liked to call dogs. He had to fucking miss the way Seth could just say his name and it would start to calm him, even if he was in his nastiest of moods. He even missed the way Seth smelled. It was basically really fucking pathetic.

He rolled out of bed and made his way into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and flipped on the light. He stepped up to the sink, gripping the edges tightly as he stared down at the drain. He had to stop this. It had been a year now. It was time to knock this shit off before everyone else realized how bad he still was. Roman knew, but he wouldn't tell anyone. Roman was the only one he could really trust. Or at least he hoped he could. He chose to believe that was still the case. He needed to believe it because he would probably go insane if he lost Roman too.

Dean turned on the faucet and splashed his face off with cold water. He tried to push the memory of the failed cash in out of his mind. Yet within seconds, his head went back to how Seth had looked earlier tonight. The man had fallen from grace so completely and just looked so broken. So completely done. The light was gone from his brown eyes and it fucking bothered Dean. And it shouldn't. He had to keep telling himself that. Seth tossed him away without a second thought. He needed to relish in Seth getting a nice dose of karma. Yet there was none of that. No. He still had to go and care. That was his fucking problem. When it came to Seth he was as fucking soft as a fucking marshmallow. And there seemed to be no fucking cure for it.

A knock on the door nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Dean." Roman's voice was low, the other man clearly too tired to really be doing this. "Dean what the hell? We got to be up in three hours. Come out here and go to bed."

"I'll be out in a minute." Dean splashed more water on his face. He didn't dare look at his reflection in the mirror. Instead he shut the water off and grabbed the nearby towel to dry himself off. He moved slowly, finally coming back out in hopes to find that Roman had gone back to sleep. No such luck though. Roman was in his bed now, looking at what Dean had just watched on his I-pad.

"Dean..."

"Don't start." Dean walked over to the mini bar and grabbed the tiny bottle of whiskey he still had left. It wasn't anywhere near enough, but downing it at least gave him something to do.

"He's fucking asshole." Roman turned off his I-pad and put it on the bedside dresser. "You don't need to do this to yourself."

"I know."

"You are so much better off now. You're a champion again, you got a boyfriend -"

"Dolph's not my fucking boyfriend." The words flew out of Dean's mouth with a lot more venom than even he expected to have. "Fucking him a couple of times a week don't make him my boyfriend."

Roman shook his head. "He cares about you."

"It's sex Rome. It started as sex, it's about sex and that's it. I don't want a fucking relationship. Not again."

"Unless it's with him?"

Dean didn't say a word. He knew damn well the him in question wasn't Dolph anymore. He glanced around, desperate to find something else to drink.

"Come here." Roman's tone didn't leave much room for argument. "Come to bed."

"M'not tired."

"I don't give a shit. We got a fuck load of stuff to do tomorrow. Get your ass over here now."

Dean groaned loudly, but still did what he was told. He got on the bed, letting Roman pull him up and force his head to rest against his chest. "You're suck a fucking dick Ro."

"Me? Have you met yourself?" Roman pulled the blankets up over them and started running his fingers through Dean's hair. "I love you to death, but you're kind of a jackass."

Kind of was probably an understatement. Dean sighed and threw an arm over Roman's stomach and his leg over both of his. If he even managed to fall asleep he would end up like this anyway. Might as well just go ahead and make himself comfortable like this. Roman didn't mind. His fingers kept playing with Dean's hair, the tips scratching against his scalp in hopes to soothe him to sleep.

"Ro?"

"Yeah?"

"M'sorry."

Roman's fingers stopped. "Sorry for what?"

Sorry for keeping him up, sorry for being so stuck on a jackass who abandoned them, sorry for needing Roman to take care of him because the betrayal bullshit left him unable to really be good at taking care of himself anymore...the list went on and on in his head. But since he was barely good at saying the word itself, he couldn't really bring himself to elaborate on it. Instead he just shrugged, which made Roman sigh.

"It's alright." Roman fingers moved in his hair once more. "Just go to sleep."


	2. Chapter 2

"God you look like shit."

Considering who the blunt statement was coming from, Dean no longer found himself surprised by it. Instead he just looked over to see that AJ had plopped down next to him. He had been sitting alone in catering, eating a Snickers bar mostly out of boredom. He had gotten done with his round of radio interviews and had skipped out of going to the gym. Roman wouldn't have let him if he had been around, but with being the world champ, he had a lot more media things to do than Dean did. So here Dean sat, neglecting his training and not really thinking about the tag team match he was supposed to be having tonight. It was him and Dolph taking on Luke Harper and Bo Dallas, which was an extremely strange pairing in his opinion. Why they thought of it he didn't know. What he did know was that the match itself was really just filler while Swagger, Stardust, Adrian Neville and The Miz all fought to be the next number one contender to his title. The fatal four way was scheduled to kick off Raw, which meant he was going to have to decide if he wanted to surprise the commentary team and join them. Part of him felt like he should; it was always good to go out and scout. But the complete lack of sleep he was dealing with made just sitting there exhausting, let alone the energy he was going to have to come up for the match. Dealing with the idiots at the commentary table was probably asking for too much.

"Insomnia again?" AJ prodded his leg with her foot when he didn't say anything to her. She had her newly won divas title in her hands. Her life was now complete in taking it back from Nikki.

"Yeah." Thank god for his well known sleeping issues. It always gave him a great cover to hide behind. There was no way he wanted to share the fact that he hadn't slept right since losing Seth.

"Yuck." AJ wrinkled her nose before giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I've been there." She put her title down on the table so she could pull her feet up on the chair with her. "Wanna know what helped me?"

"Constantly getting laid again?" Dean guessed with a smirk.

AJ's face immediately turned red. "It's not constantly."

Dean just continued to smirk. Entire hotels had heard her and Paige enough to know that it pretty much was constant.

"Oh fuck off." She reached over and shoved his shoulder now. "Like you and Dolph are much better."

"Well he hasn't scared the entire roster screaming my name so..."

"One time! One! Can't you people let it go?"

"I don't think any of us would have gotten hired if we were capable of just letting things go." Dean popped the rest of his Snickers in his mouth and shrugged apologetically. Maybe it wasn't fair, but that was just how it seemed to be.

"Ugh." AJ stuck out her lower lip and let out an aggravated sigh. "You're right." She moved her head so her chin rested on her right knee. "Did Jimmy find you yet?"

"No." His eyes narrowed warily. "Do I want to know why he's looking for me?"

"He wants us all to go out after the show."

"Oh christ..." Dean rubbed his eyes. That was not what he needed. Not when he was this fucking tired and needing to ride in a car for three hours to get to where Smackdown was being taped tomorrow.

"Yeah I know." AJ was back to being sympathetic once more. "Too bad we're on the west coast. We can't really feed him the "it's too late" line even after the show's over."

Yeah. Too fucking bad. "I'll just tell him to go fuck himself."

"Really think that'll work?"

"You really think he's gonna want me to be all cranky at everyone?"

"You're kind of always cranky. It's part of your charm." Dolph joined them now, pulling up the chair on Dean's other side to sit in. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he was missing his shirt. Not an uncommon thing, though he was covered in a little too much baby oil for a guy whose match wasn't for a few more hours.

"It was for a skit on the JBL and Renee show." Dolph sensed Dean's question and answered it before he even actually asked.

"The fuck kind of skit needs this much baby oil?" Dean reached over and ran his fingers down Dolph's arm. He wrinkled his nose at just how much of it rubbed off at the simple touch.

Dolph just waved that question off. "Don't ask."

"You got more on than Orton used to use."

"Oh come on..."

"If we got you outside in the heat, we could like, totally cook some eggs or bacon on you," AJ added helpfully..

"It is not that bad!"

Dean and AJ just looked at him.

Dolph sighed. "Okay, yeah. I'm gonna have to shower here real soon." He grabbed Dean's hand and gave him the best set of puppy dog eyes that he could manage. "Come on. Please come out with us? You can't just leave me alone with the idiots we call co-workers. That's just too cruel."

"You could just tell them to fuck off too," Dean pointed out. "They're grown ups. They can handle a little rejection."

Dolph grinned. "What's in it for me if I tell them to fuck off? I'm not expected to just sit alone and be a total loser am I?" He let go of Dean's hand and placed it on his thigh instead. "I mean, I'll still want to do something."

Dean smirked. Even with being exhausted, it was hard to deny the stirring in his groin. How could he really? Dolph's body was all slick and shiny from the baby oil, making his muscles look extra appealing now that Dean was really thinking about it. And hell, maybe a good fuck would actually get him to fall asleep after. "I can think of something you can do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm." Dean watched Dolph inch his face closer, not really making a move of his own. He felt AJ watching them closely, her anticipation nearly making her grab them both by the back of their head and smash their lips together. She had a voyeuristic streak in her that just didn't quit. Dean would have laughed if it weren't his nose that would get broken in any face smashing shenanigans.

"Your room or mine?" Dolph breathed out the question, his breath tickling Dean's lips.

"Yours." It was the answer Dean always gave. Dolph roomed alone more often than not while he was always with Roman. And if he decided he didn't want to spend the whole night, it was easier just to bail than to have to kick Dolph out of his room.

"Or, you know, Paige and I could get a room with an extra bed." AJ still looked ready to start forcing them to kiss. "We love to watch."

"Oh I know you do." Dolph turned away from Dean to look at his ex. "And I applaud your lack of shame."

She smiled for a moment before realizing he was about to keep going. "But...?"

"Dean and I aren't looking for an audience."

She let out a huff and folded her arms over her chest. "Well that's just rude. You tease me like this and then don't deliver? I have never been so insulted."

Dean snickered and got a slap upside his head for it. "Ow!"

"Bastards." AJ got up and snatched her title back. "May Bo Dallas's smiling face haunt your dreams forever."

"Oh wait a second." Dean nearly got up to start chasing after her.

"AJ that's harsh!" Dolph looked nearly as horrified as Dean felt.

"May you be haunted!" AJ grinned triumphantly at their faces before skipping away.

Dean groaned. "Fuck. Next time we got to tell her yes."

Dolph just nodded in agreement.

* * *

Seth sighed as he stared angrily at the monitor. The good news was, he wasn't going to be losing a match on Raw. The bad news was, he wasn't even booked on the show. He hadn't even been booked on Superstars. This was where his career had gone. He hated this. He wanted to rage and scream and demand for another chance, but he didn't. Instead he sat there, just watching the show unfold instead. It was a more wrestling centric episode than normal. Stardust won the right to be the next challenger to Dean's title, Paige battled Emma to a no contest when Summer Rae laid them both out, The Ascenion battled the Usos, Bray Wyatt beat R-Truth and then bragged about beating Orton (which tickled Seth to no end) and AJ retained her title over Nikki before taunting Brie and daring her to try to get it. But none of those matches had his attention like the one taking place now. Dean was teaming with Dolph to take on Luke Harper and Bo Dallas. Dean had just come out to the ring, all fired up and screaming shit at Harper. Harper just stared blankly back at him, seemingly unaware that Bo was ducking behind him to hide. Dolph was laughing, his hand resting unnecessarily on Dean's shoulder. The touch made Seth's stomach turn uncomfortably. That was what he used to do. He was the one who always touched Dean to try to calm him down. It did bring him satisfaction to see it not work out as well for Dolph. Dean lunged forward, throwing himself at Harper and flailing away wildly.

"Oh jesus." Seth nearly laughed while shaking his head. It used to drive him so crazy, but now he missed it. He fucking missed it and he hated that he missed it. This wasn't what he needed right now. He didn't need to go and pine for Dean when Dean wanted nothing to do with him.

Dolph and Bo left the ring, leaving Dean to continue to hammer away at Luke. Being champion seemed to motivate him in a way that he hadn't been in ages. Seth watched as Dean kept control while he was in there, eventually choosing to tag in Dolph. Seth's eyes narrowed as he watched Dolph and Dean not only hit a double suplex on Harper, but watched Dolph go out of his way to touch Dean again before trying to get the pin. Fucker. What the hell did he need to be all over Dean for? There was no real reason. Bastard just needed to stop.

It gave Seth a lot of satisfaction to watch Bo trip Ziggler from the outside and get the advantage for him and Harper. The two worked him over, picking apart his knee. Seth nodded his approval, silently urging them on while listening to Dean yell at just about everyone. It did give Seth a sense of satisfaction to realize Dean was taking more time to yell insults at Harper and Bo and telling the referee he was an incompetent jackass than he was trying to rally Dolph. And it did dawn on him that it was really petty to feel that way. It was petty as hell and he needed to stop, but he couldn't. And given that he had so few small comforts anymore, he really didn't want to.

Dolph finally hit a big DDT on Bo, leaving them both grounded. Dean was going crazy on the apron, more than ready to get tagged in. He never got his chance. Stardust ran in from the crowd, pulling Dean right off the apron. Dean landed on his feet and turned to start throwing punches. He was met with a face full of some kind of green mist. Dean fell back with a yell, his hands covering his face as he kept yelling and cursing. The referee called for the bell, giving Dean and Dolph the win via disqualification. Not that they got to celebrate it. Dean was too busy stumbling around ringside blindly and Dolph got kicked in the face by Luke Harper just for the hell of it. The ringside doctor was trying to get Dean, but Dean ended up belting him in the face before blindly stumbling towards the ramp. He hated being checked on by doctors and trainers. Someone always used to have to make him. In the Shield days that had been Seth, and these days, it was typically Roman that did it. But what if Roman was busy and hadn't seen what happened? Officials were always making him shoot promos or meet with Make A Wish kids or some kind of shit even during the shows. He could be completely unaware of what was happening, which meant Dean wouldn't go get any kind of medical attention. And god only knew what was even in that mist. Stardust was a fucking freak who probably put like space acid or some shit in it.

Seth got to his feet and left the room he was in. He wasn't even thinking about how what he was about to do wasn't a good idea. He was just moving, feeling an absolute need to go find Dean. Even if it ended badly, he was still compelled to try. It wasn't like he had anything else to lose.

* * *

"FUCK!" Dean had been screaming that since the moment the mist hit his eyes and he wasn't looking to stop now. He could tell by the sounds around him that he had made it backstage, but he still couldn't actually see anything. Fucking Stardust. He was going to kill that bastard. He didn't know what the hell was in the mist, but god did it burn. He needed something to flush his eyes out. Water. He had to find a sink or a water bottle or something and he needed to do it fast. He tried to force his eyes open so he could try to see, but that made the burning pain intensify even more. "FUCK!" He closed them again and kept stumbling around blindly. Stardust so had to die for this shit. Fucking crazy ass bastard.

People were saying his name and trying to grab him. He jerked away from their touch, snarling and ready to take their heads off. He didn't want their help. He didn't trust their help. Roman. Roman was the only one he would even begin to let near him. But where was he? He was supposed to be there when Dean needed him yet where was he now? Fuck. Fuck it. He would do it without him.

Hands grabbed him again and he tried to swing. He felt himself miss and the next thing he knew, he was being shoved to the side. He heard a door shut behind him and whoever this was and he tried to swing again. His fist was caught and the person wrapped an arm around his waist and dragged him around. He cursed and fought until he felt himself being bumped into something. His hands groped over it, realizing it was a sink when his hands found the knobs. Immediately he pushed aside his distrust and surging panic about the hands on him in favor of turning on the water and sticking his face down in it. He rinsed out his eyes, a low groan of pain escaping him. One of the hands on him went to his neck, the thumb rubbing slow, counter clockwise circles. The action made him stop in his tracks. Only one person knew he liked that. Only one god damn person in the world did that shit and it was not fucking Roman.

Dean shoved Seth away and stepped back, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. Seth stood and watched him, brown eyes filled with...concern? No. No that couldn't be it. Seth tossed him away like he was trash. Seth maybe had cared at one time, but then he had stopped. And now he was just going to start again? No way. This was a trick of some sort. It had to be a trick. "The fuck are you doing?" he spat the question out as venemously as he could.

Seth didn't flinch or look surprised by the way he spoke. "Can you see?" he completely ignored Dean's question to ask his own. He held up three fingers. "How many am I holding up?"

"Enough to go fuck yourself with." The burning was subsiding at least, though it was hard to be happy when he could now see Seth standing before him.

Brown eyes rolled in exasperation. "You should go to the trainer's office." He raised a hand to gesture around his own eyes. "You're looking pretty red around there."

"The fuck do you even care?" Dean resisted the urge to look and see if Seth was right. He didn't want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging it. "It's not like you haven't done worse to me."

Seth did flinch now. He wilted a bit as well, the remorse in his eyes becoming more and more undeniable. Dean just stared at him, fists balled up at his side as confusion took hold. What the fuck was this remorse shit? It had been a year and now Seth wanted to feel bad for what he done to him? No. No no no. It was a trick. That's what he kept trying to remind himself. It had to be a trick. Seth was fucking with him. That was all this was. And he had to go. Now.  
Dean straightened himself up and tried to just go out the door. He pushed past Seth, nearly getting out before he was grabbed by the arm and spun back around. He nearly raised his fist to strike but froze when Seth grabbed his face with both hands. It was Seth's tried and true manner to make him stop and listen. It shouldn't have worked now. Fucker didn't have the right to do it even. Yet here he was and Dean was not only letting him, but he was instinctively melting into it. God he needed help.

"Go to the trainer's office." Seth spoke quietly. His body was tense, seemingly waiting for Dean to get a hold of himself and hit him. "Fucking make sure you don't got any long term damage. You can't get him back if your eyes get too fucked up to see right."

"Fuck off." Dean pulled out of Seth's grasp, shoving the younger man away and trying to ignore the fact that his heart had started skipping beats inside of his chest. He backed towards the door, keeping his eyes trained on Seth until he was out of the bathroom Seth put them in. Seth didn't make a move to follow him, but the damage was done. His heart refused to go back to normal and his stomach kept doing flips on itself. His feet carried him on, landing him in the trainer's room. The trainer looked surprised but he flushed out Dean's eyes out some more, giving him some medicated eye drops and saying something about wanting Dean to see an actual eye doctor when he had a chance. Dean wasn't really listening though. There was one thing and one thing only on his mind.

Seth. Fucking. Rollins.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Dean's only response was a grunt. He was getting really tired of being asked this question. First it had been Roman and now Dolph. He was fine - physically at least. He could still see, and now that his eyes had been fully flushed they didn't hurt. He was already planning on forgetting the trainer's advice because there was no way he wanted to go to the damn eye doctor. Unless something was broken, he would rather just fix himself.

"Hey." Dolph set their keys down on top of the television before grabbing Dean by the wrist. He had driven them here, not trusting Dean's vision quite yet. "That shit seemed to really hurt you. Do you really blame me for trying to check on you?"

"After me saying that I'm fine like fifty times? Yeah." Dean pulled his wrist out of Dolph's grip so he could fold his arms over his chest. "Like come on. You're about as bad as Roman."

It was meant to be an insult, yet Dolph just grinned. "Someone's gotta watch out for you when he's not around."

Dean was tempted to say that he didn't need Dolph looking out for him. He was a big boy who could take care of himself. But he made himself not do it. It caused a fight when he tried to make that claim with Roman and it would probably only cause a fight now. That wasn't what he wanted. Not after the confrontation with Seth. He would rather just have the rest of his night be free of any kind of confusing bullshit.

Dolph stepped up to him, placing his hands on his shoulders and kissing him gently. "You know, I was totally planning on victory sex tonight."

Dean smirked. "Well technically speaking we did win." He grabbed the hem of Dolph's shirt and pulled it up just enough to see Dolph's abs. "Maybe it didn't exactly go as planned, but we won. That still counts."

"True." Dolph was smirking now too. His fingers tugged on Dean's belt, his mouth getting closer and closer. "And I think I could make you forget all about that freak Stardust."

Truth be told, Stardust was the furthest thing from Dean's mind. But Dolph didn't have to know that. Dean grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Their teeth clashed and noses smashed together but Dean didn't let that put him off. Instead he deepened the kiss, trying to focus every bit of attention he could muster on it. Their hands moved frantically to strip themselves of their clothes. It was always like this between them. Hard, fast - almost impersonal really. That was how it had to be though. Dean didn't want anything more. He had it before and what had happened there? Seth had both fucked him over and fucked him completely. Nothing had felt right since Seth left him and he didn't ever want to give anyone that much power over him again. Choosing to keep his trust in Roman was enough.

Dean broke the kiss and stepped back so they could finish stripping themselves of their clothes. Dolph initiated the next kiss, turning them to try to guide Dean towards the bed. Dean let himself stumble backwards for just a few steps before turning them back around and regaining control.

"Anyone tell ya you got control issues?" Dolph kept his tone light, trying to make it seem like he was joking.

"Maybe." Dean turned Dolph around by the hips and pushed him towards the bed. Dolph, despite his own statement, eagerly positioned himself on his hands and knees on the mattress. Dean slapped a hand against his ass in approval before grabbing his bag, which was right by the bed. He dug around, fishing out the half empty bottle of lube that he had with him. He got on to the bed, popping the cap with his thumb and poured some on to his hand. Slick fingers probed at Dolph's entrance, sliding in one at a time and crooking upwards. Dolph moaned and pushed himself back against Dean's fingers. "Always so fucking eager." Dean leaned down and pressed his lips against Dolph's spine. He kissed up it slowly -

_\- bites mixing in with the kisses every so often. Seth jumped every time, his head turning back to glare at him. Dean just grinned at him and bit down yet again. "You fucker." Seth tried to make himself sound angry, but the words got lost in a moan._

__"You like it." Dean bit down again, breaking the skin this time. He swiped his tongue over the wound, lapping up the blood before gently kissing the spot. Seth whimpered and arched his back towards Dean's mouth. They had ditched hanging out with Roman and the rest of the boys to come back to their hotel room. Their clothes had started to fly off the moment their door had shut. Their lips had met repeatedly, hungry for contact. It had only been a few hours (they had snuck in a quickie in one of the arena closets) yet it had felt like too long._ _

_"Fuuuck Dean." Seth gripped the sheets underneath him tightly. He was on his hands and knees, his cock rock hard as Dean worked three fingers inside his ass. "Just fuck me already."_

_"I don't think you're in any position to be barking out orders babe." Dean kissed up along the younger man's tattoos, working his fingers even more slowly in him just to drive him crazy._

_"Oh come on...Dean...just...please?" Seth gave in to the begging. He gave Dean another look, brown eyes filled with pure desperation and lust. It was a look that got to Dean every single time that he saw it. His free hand grabbed a handful of brown and blonde locks and yanked Seth's head back roughly, claiming his mouth in a searing kiss._

Dean shook off the memory, trying to absorb himself in the kiss he was sharing with Dolph. He didn't need to think about Seth. Fuck that. What right did Seth have to get back in his head? None whatsoever. But even as he told himself that, it didn't do anything to stop the pain in his chest. No matter who he put in his bed, they weren't like Seth. They didn't kiss him like Seth did. They didn't moan and beg and make him feel NEEDED like Seth did. He could go through all the motions, but there was no real spark.

"Fuck." Dean didn't care what Dolph interpreted that curse to be about. Instead he just broke the kiss and slipped his fingers out of Dolph. He positioned himself behind him, reclaiming the lube so he could coat his length with it. Dolph was saying something to him, but he wasn't really listening. That was bad of him. He should listen. But he couldn't. He fucking couldn't.

_"Oh fuck!" Seth's cry nearly echoed through the room. He sat astride Dean's lap, his body eagerly bouncing down on Dean's cock. His hands rested on Dean's chest, palms bracing his body while nails dug into Dean's skin. The array of marks that would be left behind didn't bother Dean in the slightest. He was much more interested in watching the way Seth was riding his cock. His hands were on Seth's hips, guiding his movements while his own hips thrusted upwards to match them. His eyes were locked on to the blissed out look on Seth's face. Brown eyes were half lidded, pink lips were parted, whimpers and moans pouring from that perfect mouth...he was fucking marvelous. Perfect even._

_"Dean..." Seth leaned forwards, his mouth hovering just inches from Dean's. "Dean..." His hands moved to rest on the mattress. Their chests were touching now, sweaty bodies molding and sticking together. "Oh fuck Dean..."_

Dean's hands gripped Dolph's hips with bruising force. He pounded into him hard, his teeth biting down on his lower lip so hard he tasted blood. The thoughts of Seth were refusing to stop. He couldn't even try to make them anymore. It was beyond fucked up. Even with this being just sex, it was still fucked up of him to be thinking of someone else. But he couldn't make it stop. The best he could hope for was that he didn't accidentally say Seth's name and give himself away.

_"Fuck!" Dean barely managed to gasp out the word in between the kiss he and Seth were sharing. Seth was riding him faster, his tight heat squeezing his cock so perfectly. "I love you." The words he never used to say to anyone now came tumbling freely from his mouth. And he meant them too. He meant them every fiber of his being._

_"I love you too..."_

Dean wrapped a hand around Dolph's cock, stroking him until he felt the other man's release coat his hand. His own quickly followed, a strangled moan escaping him. Seth's name didn't pass his lips. Good. He was spared of that embarrassment at least. He pulled out Dolph and collapsed in a heap against the pillows. He gasped for breath, his mind thankfully clear thanks to his orgasm. He heard Dolph saying something again and god did he need to get better at listening to him. He didn't need to be THIS much of an asshole. But that effort would stop later. For now he closed his eyes, doing his best to enjoy Seth free thoughts for as long as he could.

* * *

Seth laid back on the floor, his body drenched in sweat. His usual Crossfit high was working for his body at least. Mentally though, he was stuck in the same Dean filled rut that he had been in the whole night before. He had replayed the conversation with Dean from the bathroom until the early hours of the morning. And then, once he had finally drifted off to sleep, his dreams had been filled with Dean too. There was literally no escape. He didn't know what to do. Ignoring it wasn't getting him anywhere. That much was obvious. But he couldn't just say he was sorry for it all. Dean wouldn't ever believe him. Any time he got near him the other man went on the lookout for the knife heading to his back again. Dean was not a man who just trusted people. He had walls that Seth had a hard enough time tearing down the first time around. He had put them up to protect himself at a young age, and with what had happened last June, he surely felt like a fool for letting Seth get past them to begin with. Managing it again would take a miracle from a higher power that he didn't even believe in.

A hard kick to his thigh nearly made his heart jump into his throat. Seth sat straight up, his eyes widening as he saw Roman looming above him. "Wha -"

"The fuck were you doing with Dean last night?"

"What - how do you know about that?" Seth hadn't thought anyone saw him when he dragged Dean into the bathroom. Clearly he had overlooked somebody somewhere along the way.

"Don't fucking worry about that." Roman had absolutely zero interest in sharing his sources. Instead he glared down at Seth, the fury radiating off of him in waves. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, his clothes not even proper workout ones. He had just come here to hunt Seth down and that thought was fucking terrifying. Very few got as scary as Roman did once he was on a rampage. "What you need to worry about is explaining to me just what you thought you were doing last night."

Seth stood up, ignoring the way his legs ached as he did so. "I was just helping him alright? He got blinded out there and you weren't there to reel him in. Someone had to do it."

Roman's eyes narrowed even more. "You? Helping him?"

"What? It's the truth."

"You really expect me to believe that? After all you did?"

Seth folded his arms over his chest. He felt himself starting to get defensive, even with knowing that wasn't the best course of action. "I'm not asking you to believe shit Roman. I'm just telling you the truth. I got him to the sink so he could rinse his eyes out. He got pissy with me. I told him to go to the trainer's and then he stormed out. That's fucking it."

"And you did that out of what? The goodness of your heart?" Roman poked a finger into Seth's chest. "You really expect me to just believe that you're not up to something?"

Seth balled his fists up by his sides. This was not what he wanted to deal with right now. He had enough shit to sort out without Mother Hen Roman being all over his fucking case. "What, people can't have a change of heart? I remember when you used to want to strangle him, yet now you're tripping over yourself to baby him."

"Me learning to not let him get on my nerves so much is completely different than you thinking you can come slithering back in after what you did. I didn't fucking ever beat him with a chair so bad he could barely fucking move the next day."

Seth flinched. For a moment he was back at that moment, hearing the sound of the chair smacking into Dean's body over and over again. "Ro I'm -"

"If you apologize to me I'm gonna knock your teeth down your throat." Roman shut him down before he could even finish. "You understand? Go make nice with Orton if you want to get back together with someone. Just leave Dean the fuck alone."

Seth made no attempt to agree or argue with the order. He just stared at Roman, stumbling back a bit as he was shoved roughly. His eyes stayed on Roman as the older man stormed off, his body staying tense and ready for a fight until he was completely out of sight. "Fuck!" He kicked his foot against the ground, ignoring the stares he was now getting. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" The only way that could have gone worse was if Roman had actually beat the shit out of him. "God damn it." Seth tried to ignore how shaky his legs felt as he went towards the gym's locker room. He didn't feel like continuing to work out now. He just wanted to get the fuck away from this place and just...well he didn't know yet. "Fucking god damn it..."

* * *

"Jelly or cream filled?"

Dolph blinked and turned his head to find an open pink box filled with donuts being shoved at his face. His eyes drifted up to see Paige was the holder, her expression filled with impatience. "What?"

"Jelly or cream filled?" she nearly tapped him in the face with the corner of the box. "The chocolate covered glazed ones are AJ's and the blueberry one is mine, so you have to have jelly or cream."

"What makes you think I even want one?"

"I'm trying to be nice. Now take a damn donut you son of a bitch."

Dolph smirked and took a jelly filled one. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Paige put the box on the table and sat down next to him. They were in catering, the room empty save for them, Cameron and Summer Rae. The other two divas were all the way across the room and so deeply absorbed in a conversation that Dolph didn't even think they realized he and Paige were nearby. "So why exactly are you handing out pastries?"

Paige let out a dramatic sigh. "Well, you remember when I punched Nikki at post WrestleMania party?"

Dolph grinned. "Kind of hard to forget it honestly."

"Yeah, well, I had to start seeing Dr. Shelby after that. And he's making me do nice things for people to promote like, positive energy or some shit." The Brit took her blueberry cake donut from the box and bit into it. "Hence the pastries."

"Ah." Dolph took a bite of his own, relishing in the sweetness despite knowing it was one of the last things he needed to be eating. "So do you like, feel better about yourself now?"

"God no. I hate this shit."

Dolph let out a laugh as he glanced down at his phone. The text message he had been waiting for still hadn't come. Shit.

"What?" Paige mock punched him on the arm. "Am I not entertaining enough for you?"

"Sorry." Dolph put his phone down on the table. "Dean was gonna text me when he got here so I was just um...don't give me that look."

Paige kept right on giving him the look. "Well unless your phone is on silent, you would know when he's texting you." She put her legs up on his lap and leaned back in her chair. "Why didn't you just show up together anyway? We all heard you two going at it last night."

"I had a Be A Star rally and he had radio interviews again," Dolph replied. He thought about knocking her feet off of him but decided the kick he would get wouldn't be worth it. "So we kind of had to split up."

"Ah." Paige nodded with understanding. "Dude, he's not exactly the best at getting back to people. He gets like distracted. I mean, for fuck's sakes, have you heard him in radio interviews? He like, rambles on and on and I'm pretty sure he forgets the questions."

Dolph snickered. Maybe that wasn't entirely true, but it was close to it.

"So like, are you guys like, official now?" Paige let her eyes go back and forth between him and the phone. "Since you're all tripping over yourself for this call?"

The bit of a grin on his face melted off. "Nah. It's just...I don't know." Dolph rubbed the back of his neck. "We just fuck around. That's it."

"But you want more?"

Dolph didn't answer. He really didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to admit that yes, he in fact did want a bit more. Dean, for all his gruffness and shit, was a better guy than he gave himself credit for. He was funny, charming and the sex was pretty damn good. But Dolph wasn't stupid. Dean was keeping him at a distance. Even when they fucked, Dolph had the feeling that Dean's mind was a million miles away from him. Dean had walls up that Dolph couldn't even imagine being broken down. Maybe they could have been once, but the shit storm with Seth had ruined it all.

"You know, it's not easy being with someone who's been hurt so much before." Paige moved her feet off of him and set her chair back down correctly. "There's issues you gotta get past with them. AJ was that way by the time I met her. She had walls put up to protect herself. She expected me to want to hurt her. I had to fight for her." She gave him a serious look. "If you want anything more with Dean you're gonna have to fight for it."

"And if I decide I don't?" Dolph eyed his phone again before looking back at her. "I mean I like him. I do. But even with ignoring his army of walls, I'm pretty sure I'm just a rebound for him."

"He's still not over Seth?"

"He says his name sometimes. When we..."

Paige's eyes widened. "Oh my god. Really?"

Dolph nodded. "He don't realize it. I can tell that much. He thinks he kept it back but I've heard it. And like, I don't know, sometimes I just get the feeling part of him doesn't want to be over Seth. So like, I don't even know what to do. I do like him. I'd be with him if he wanted more. I'd try to get past his mountain of issues. But like, if he's really stuck on Seth and don't want to let him go, then what's the point? I'm fighting a war I've already lost."

Paige had no answer for him there. She tried to come up with one, but the words failed her. Finally she just handed him another donut, which he accepted without a word.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean parked himself at the very top row of the empty arena seats. He had slipped in unnoticed, deciding to put off meeting up with Dolph again in favor of having some alone time. After having people up his ass all morning and knowing it would happen again later, he needed some room to breathe. He propped his feet up on the seat in front of him, his head tilted back and his eyes shut. He hadn't slept all that much better even after getting laid. He had tried. He really had. There was no way he could keep going on like this. At some point, the lack of sleep was going to drive him completely over the edge.

He placed his hands over his face and rubbed gently. About the only option he had left was getting his hands on some sleeping pills. That wasn't the path he wanted to take. It would probably just get him into trouble. But it was quickly becoming the only viable option. Maybe he could just use it for one night. Get one night of sleep and then use the rest to clear all the shit out of his head for good.

"Hey."

Dean opened his eyes and moved his head back up just in time to watch Roman sit down next to him. "Hey." He didn't offer up a smile, but he wasn't about to tell Roman to get lost either. He knew it wouldn't work anyway so there was no point in trying.

"How are you feeling?" Roman leaned in, trying to see if there was any visible damage to Dean's eyes.

"Fine." Dean swatted Roman away, shaking his head at him. "Don't get up in my face man. I'm fucking fine."

"You're lucky you are." Roman took Dean's swatting in stride, not letting it bother him in the least. "You got a chance for revenge though."

"Oh?" Dean took his feet down and straightened up. Roman definitely had his attention now.

Roman nodded. "Me, you and Randy are teaming up to take on Rusev, Stardust and Wyatt."

The good old combining of feuds. Rusev had been gunning for Roman's title and Orton wouldn't just let Bray's win over him stand. Add in Stardust wanting a piece of him and there they were. "We really got to have Orton? We can't just do it on our own?"

Roman grinned. "I was pushing for Dolph, but they decided they wanted to have him face Seth tonight."

Dean stiffened at the mere mention of Seth's name. He immediately tried to play it off, but it was too late. Roman had noticed. Fuck.

"What happened with you two last night?" Roman put a hand up as Dean went to go make a denial. "Don't say nothing did. I fucking know you were alone with him. Something happened."

Roman knowing him so well was definitely a curse. At least right now anyway. "He just...I don't fucking know." Dean rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. "He like, fucking helped me to the bathroom so I could get my eyes rinsed out. I didn't even know it was him at first. Not until..."

"You saw him?"

"He did that neck rub thing I like."

Roman tried his best to keep his expression neutral, but Dean still caught the way his eye twitched. He wasn't happy. "What else?"

Dean shrugged. "I told him to go fuck himself. Asked why he cared anyway. Reminded him that he had done worse."

"What did he say to that?"

"Nothing. What the fuck can he say?" Dean rubbed his hand across his collarbone and shoulder, needing to do something with it to soothe himself. "He told me to go to the trainer's office."

"Which you did."

"Not because he told me to though."

Roman cocked an eyebrow.

"I didn't!"

Roman kept staring at him.

"Oh fuck me." Dean let out a loud groan. "He's in my head again."

"I don't think he ever actually left." Roman studied him closely, clearly trying to choose his next words carefully. "Do you think he's being genuine?"

Dean shrugged. His brain wanted him to say no. By every right he needed to say no. After everything Seth had done to him and Roman, he didn't deserve the benefit of the doubt. But the words wouldn't come out. Something wouldn't allow him to say it. It was stupid. Seth probably only was acting like he cared because he had nothing. He lost his briefcase, his status, his backup - Triple H and Stephanie were hiding in their Greenwich mansion, Kane and Big Show were back to doing their own thing, and Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury had been sent down to NXT to work with talent down there. He had nothing. And he deserved it. That was what Dean kept trying to tell himself. Seth deserved it. Yet something in Dean didn't like to see it. It hurt. It fucking hurt. And god help him, there was a part of him wanted to believe Seth was actually sorry. He really did. Because he missed him. He missed the stupid fuck and he hated himself for it.

"You know you deserve better, right?" Roman spoke again when Dean didn't. He had said this stuff before, but that never stopped him from saying it again. "You don't need him. You've got a good thing going career wise. You got a good guy in Dolph. You don't need to be pining over a guy who completely fucked you over."

"You don't think I know that?" Dean couldn't stop himself from snapping. He really couldn't. He had heard that shit from Roman so many times and it was never actually helpful. "You think I want to fucking miss him?" He shook his head. "I fucking hate him for what he did to me. And I fucking hate him for having this kind of effect on me." He stood up, his hands going down to his sides and balling up into fists. "It doesn't stop though. What I want don't mean shit. It never fucking has in anything else in my life, so like, why would it even start now?"

"Dean..."

"It's been him Roman." Dean hated the way his voice cracked at the admission. Fucking Seth. He always made him weak. "It's always been him. From the first fucking time I saw him."

"I know you loved him." Roman spoke quietly, his body bracing in case he pushed too much and got socked in the mouth. "I know it's hard. But as your friend, I don't want to see you get hurt again. I don't think you can trust him."

"I can't trust anyone. Except you."

Roman shook his head. "That's not true."

"Is too."

"What about our friends? What about Dolph?"

"Jesus, would you get off my ass about Dolph?" Dean nearly kicked him in exasperation. "I'm not fucking dating him. It's sex. And I don't have to fucking trust him to bang him."

Roman groaned. "Maybe you could start moving on from Seth if you know, you actually tried to move on."

"You're giving me dating advice? Really? Your last boyfriend lost his god damn mind and just tried to blind me last night. What dating have you done in your moving on process?"

"Maybe I didn't need to do that because I'm not a neurotic headcase who don't know how to let go."

A frigid silence took hold. Dean stood there, fists clenched and eyes narrowed while Roman paled, a completely remorseful look crossing his face.

"Dean -"

"Fuck you." Dean turned on his heel and started to storm off.

Roman let out a loud sigh. "Dean wait."

"Fuck you fuck you fuck you!"

"Dean come here." The plea just sounded apologetic but Dean didn't give a shit.

"No."

Roman still chased after him, grabbing him by the arm and turning him around. Dean immediately took a swing, nailing Roman right in the face. Roman stumbled back and Dean pounced, sending them down to the hard floor right in front of the seats. The tussle wasn't a long one. There wasn't much room to fight, as the chairs around them kept them in place. Finally they just broke apart, Roman's mouth bleeding while Dean's shirt was partly ripped off. Neither made a move to get up off the floor. They stared at each other, Dean glaring and Roman wincing apologetically.

"I'm sorry."

Dean let out a loud huff. "You're a fucking asshole."

Roman hung his head. To his credit, he really did look ashamed of himself. "I know."

But he was an asshole who was probably right, so Dean let himself scoot closer and drop his head on the older man's shoulder. Roman mumbled another apology before going quiet, moving only to wipe the blood off his lips. Dean thought about apologizing for hitting him, but didn't. Instead he just closed his eyes and tried to just push all the crap out of his brain. He was going to get his head back on straight.

Maybe.

Possibly.

In an alternate universe where pigs flew and hell froze over.

* * *

Seth paced back and forth across the hallway, his eyes not really focusing on anything as he moved. He had a match against Dolph that would kick off Smackdown and he was doing his best to get himself psyched up for it. He couldn't lose. He fucking couldn't. The downward spiral he was on had to end. He could start getting himself back to where he deserved to be if he won tonight. And pounding in the face of the guy who got to crawl into bed with Dean every night just sounded fun to do.

No. No no no. He had to focus on himself. He couldn't make this about Dean. That was stupid. That was just going to get him into trouble. And what was the point anyway? Dean wouldn't be impressed. Dean hated him. Dean had every right to hate him. The only sensible thing to do was accept that and move on.

But even as he thought that, the ache in his chest told him that wouldn't be possible. He didn't want to move on. He wanted to go back. He wanted to go back and make an entirely different decision. If he could, he would never go through with the betrayal. He wouldn't let himself get suckered in by Hunter's words. He would have stayed with The Shield. Yet he couldn't take it back. He couldn't take a single thing he did back. And he didn't think there was a way to make it right either. No matter what he did, Dean would question it and throw shit back into his face. Forgiveness was not one of his virtues.

Seth stopped moving and let out a long sigh. It was terrible feeling so stuck. No option was a good one. At this point he just had to pick his poison and hope he could live with it.

"Fuck." He started moving again, this time going towards the gorilla position. Focus. He had to focus. He could beat Dolph. Sure he had generally done it with help of some kind, but at the end of the day he knew he really didn't need it. He was better than Ziggler. He fucking knew he was. He just needed to remind everyone of that.

Seth became so absorbed in his own silent pep talk that he almost didn't see Dolph and Dean just ahead of him. He froze, his eyes fixating on the two of them. They were engaged in a conversation, their voices too low for him to pick up on what they were saying. Dean's shoulders were extra twitchy and his hand was incessantly rubbing at his collarbone. He was agitated. He needed to be calmed down or else he would hurt either himself or someone else. Dolph was either oblivious or not realizing that whatever he was saying wasn't working. Seth was almost tempted to say something. To cut in and show Ziggler how it was done. But before he could make the move Ziggler leaned in and gave Dean a kiss. A flare of jealousy rose up so fast inside of Seth that it nearly made him sick. The fucker. The god damn fucker. He had exactly what Seth wanted. And it was his own damn fault. He had let this happen. But knowing that didn't stop the jealousy. It didn't stop him from wanting to pound Dolph's face in.

The kiss broke and Dolph went to go closer to the curtain. Dean started to head the opposite direction, stopping when he saw Seth standing there. "I hope he beats your ass."

Seth rolled his eyes. What a lovely greeting. He hadn't expected anything else from though. "Hope all you want. I'm winning out there."

Dean snorted. "You can't win shit anymore Rollins." He smirked at the look on Seth's face. "What? I'm just stating the truth."

Seth shook his head. He was not gonna let this turn into a fight. That was the last thing he needed. "How are your eyes?"

Dean gave him a suspicious look. "The fuck do you even care?"

"I -"

"No really. I want an honest fucking answer." Dean stepped closer, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "The fuck do you even think you're playing at?"

"I -"

"The fuck right do you have to start acting like you give a shit again?"

"I miss you." Seth blurted out the words without really thinking them through.

Dean blinked, something flickering in his eyes before they settled back into disgusted mistrust. "You miss me? Really?" He shook his head. "Fuck off with that shit. You're a fucking liar."

Seth swallowed hard. "I'm not lying."

Dean snorted and started to storm off. He didn't believe him. And Seth couldn't let that stand. He just couldn't. Without thinking he reached out and grabbed Dean's wrist. Dean immediately turned and started swinging with the other arm. Seth knew it was coming and grabbed that wrist as well. Dean growled and tried to yank himself free. Seth held tight, pushing them back until he had Dean up against the wall. There was no way this was a good idea. It would get him killed if either Roman found out about it or Dean got his wits back around him. But Seth couldn't make himself stop. Instead he held Dean tight, pressing his body against his to contain his struggles. Dean froze, his eyes growing wide as Seth stared at him.

"I miss you." Seth spoke each word slowly and deliberately, not breaking eye contact for a single second. He needed Dean to believe him. It was probably a stupid thing sure, but he fucking needed it right at that moment.

Dean just stared at him. His face was a whole mix of expressions. He didn't want to trust those words. That much was obvious. And why would he? There was no real reason to. Yet he wasn't arguing anymore. He just stared at Seth, his breathing heavy as the fury wavered just a bit. He knew Seth better than anyone. Even with how they grew apart there was nobody that knew him like Dean. Dean knew when he was lying. He knew that wasn't now. Not with this.

"Get off me," Dean finally managed to say.

"I'm so -"

"Don't fucking apologize." Dean finally got his wits back and slipped his wrists out of Seth's grasp so he could shove him away. "The fuck does that change? Huh? Nothing. It changes nothing."

"I know." Seth swallowed hard and backed off, wanting to stay out of hitting range. "I just wanted to say it."

Dean glared at him, his fists balled up at his sides. For a moment Seth thought he was going to lunge and attack. But then Dean just shook his head and took off, knocking over anything he could get his hands on as he went. Seth watched him go, letting out a long, shaky sigh as Dean disappeared from sight. He turned and headed towards the curtain. His music was already playing, meaning he was getting glared at for not being in position. Not that he cared. His mind was entirely too occupied with what just happened. "Smooth Rollins," he muttered under his breath. "Real fucking smooth."


	5. Chapter 5

_The crowd oohed as Seth punched him in the mouth right out of the gate. Dolph hadn't expected the blow at all. He went down from it, but the space between him and Rollins didn't last long. Seth was on him, firing down with more stiff shots. The bell rang, though it was a pretty useless symbol at this point. The fight was more than on. Dolph got his hands up, trying to both block the shots while also trying to get himself on top in this situation. Getting his ass whipped by Seth fucking Rollins was not on his list of things to do tonight._

_The fight eventually did become more even once Dolph got himself out from underneath Seth. The other man's fury remained strong throughout though. Dolph couldn't ever remember seeing it out of him before. It went way beyond Seth just wanting to win the match. That much was for sure. Dolph thought about asking him just what the fuck he thought he was doing, but held back. Deep down, he had a sneaking suspicion that this was about him and Dean being together. And if he was right, Seth had a lot more nerve than he thought he did. What right did the fucker even have to be jealous? None as far as Dolph was concerned. The bastard had dumped Dean in the most brutal way possible. He didn't even deserve to look at him anymore._

_Dolph thought he had the match well in hand. He thought he got it_ _under his control. And maybe that was his downfall. Maybe he got too full of himself. Because before he really knew what was happening, his Fameasser was being countered and he was getting power bombed into the turnbuckles. God he had forgotten how much that shit hurt. The move sent him down to his hands and knees and he should have known then to move. It should have been instinct. But he wasn't quick enough to realize what was happening until Seth's boot connected with the back of his head and he was driven down face first into the mat. The blow dazed him, allowing Seth to roll him over and get the three count. The fans booed as the bell rang, and Dolph let out a sigh of disappointment as his wits came back to him. Seth's much deserved downward spiral was broken because of him._

Dolph downed another shot, trying to shake off the memory of how the match had gone. Smackdown was over, and since they didn't have to worry about any shows until Saturday, they were all out at the bar having some drinks. He sat next to Dean, who didn't look much happier than he felt. The six man tag with him, Roman and Randy hadn't gone much better than Dolph's match had. Dean had gotten his ass kicked the whole match, seemingly unable to focus long enough to get any kind of advantage. Randy had gotten taken out of the equation by Bray, who rammed his head so hard into the ring post that he was actually at the hospital now, getting tested for a concussion. Roman had tried to bring the win for his team, but he had gotten trapped in the Accolade and the referee had stopped the match when he had lost consciousness.

All in all, the night had just sucked a big one.

"How's your shoulder?" Dolph finally decided to speak up, looking at Dean, who was just staring angrily at his whiskey.

"It's been worse." Dean took his drink, not even having the shot glass fully set back on the table before he started pouring his next one.

Dolph decided to just accept the answer, not wanting to cause a fight by pushing. "What about you big guy?" he looked at Roman, who looked uncomfortable just sitting there in the chair. "How's your back?"

An unhappy grunt was what he got for that question.

AJ, who was sitting on Paige's lap, reached over and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I told you I would give you a massage. Paige and I both will actually."

Paige nearly choked on her beer. "Uh, no," the Brit said as she set down her mug. "We bloody well will not."

AJ turned her head to pout at her. "Why not?"

"Because then you're gonna push that threesome idea again and I am just not having that." Paige remained strong even in the face of the infamous AJ pout. "Don't even look at me like that. Watching a couple of hot guys make out is one thing. Having an actual penis anywhere near me is an entirely different thing." She gave Roman an apologetic look. "No offense."

Roman managed a small smile. "None taken."

AJ sighed unhappily. "You never let me have any fun."

Dolph snickered and took a drink as he looked around the rest of the bar. Jimmy, Jey and Naomi were at a nearby table visiting with Neville, Emma, Summer and Damien Sandow. The Bellas, Cena and Bryan were in the corner, the twins seeming to be in another argument. Cena appeared to be trying to play peacemaker while Bryan just looked exasperated with Nikki. Dolph remembered his own days of dealing with the twins and did not miss it one single bit. Ryback was catching up with Curtis Axel and Rosa and Fandango were getting cozy near the front door. But nowhere in the bar did he see Seth. That was good. Having Rollins around was the last thing any of them needed.

"You want to come down to Florida this week?" Roman's question brought Dolph's attention back to his own table. The question was directed at Dean, who frowned upon hearing it.

"Why do I always got to come to Florida? Can't you ever come to Vegas?"

"I went to Vegas last time," Roman reminded him. "Remember?"

Dean stopped, the tip of his tongue poking out as he actually thought about it. "Oh yeah."

Dolph grinned, keeping how cute he thought Dean looked when he stuck his tongue out like that.

"No seriously, come to Florida." Roman wasn't letting the idea just drop. "We all live down there anyway."

"We don't." AJ gestured towards herself and Paige. "Why aren't we being invited?"

"Because Roman doesn't feel like he has to keep an eye on you two," Dean answered.

A muscle in Roman's face twitched. "Dean that's not it."

"Isn't it?" Dean drummed his fingers against the table, his eyes narrowed in irritation. "I mean, that's usually what it's about when you bring this up."

"That's not it. God, can't I want to hang out with my best friend without having another fight?"

Dolph frowned.

"Another fight?" Paige said what Dolph was thinking. "When did you fight before?"

Dean waved off the question. "It's nothing. Just forget it."

It clearly wasn't nothing. Dolph could just tell by the looks on both Dean's and Roman's faces. But clearly it wasn't something they wanted to discuss and the topic needed to be steered back away from the matter. "Our live events this weekend are in Florida anyway," he said, making everyone look at him. "So like, why don't you -" he pointed to Dean first "and you two - " he pointed to AJ and Paige next "just all come down and stay. Roman and I both live in Tampa. If Dean wants to stay with Roman then you girls can stay with me. Or Dean, if you're all mad at Roman, you can stay with me and the girls can stay with Roman."

"We all can't stay together? No big slumber party?" AJ sighed dramatically. "Nobody's fun anymore."

Dolph grinned while Daen and Roman rolled their eyes. "Well maybe we can do one sleepover."

"We better."

Dean took another drink of whiskey before pushing away his shot glass and standing up. "Well, if I'm gonna have to change my flight plans just to spend more time with you people, I'm gonna go get some air."

"Want company?" The offer was out of Dolph's mouth before he even realized he was about to say it.

Dean froze, his tongue poking out again he thought about it. "No," he finally said. "I'll um, come to you later if I'm feeling up to it."

"Right. Cool." Dolph watched him take off, not looking back at anyone else until he was out the door. When he did turn back around, he saw Roman rubbing his temples, AJ looking confused and Paige giving him a sympathetic look.

"You okay?"

Dolph just shrugged, not really knowing the answer to that. He wasn't really surprised by Dean's answer, yet there was definitely a twinge in his chest that hadn't been there before.

"He's just...it's been rough." Roman spoke up, his words being chosen extra carefully. "Seth's been lurking around and it's fucking him up."

Of course. It always came back to Seth. "God I wish I had beat him," Dolph muttered.

"We should all beat him up," AJ suggested. She smacked a hand down against the table. "Right now. Let's go find him and beat him up."

Paige grinned. "I'm in."

"No no no," Roman objected. "I'll handle Rollins. You guys just prepare me an alibi just in case I bash his brains in."

Considering how much Dean clearly missed the scumbag, Dolph didn't see how that would go over well at all. But he didn't say anything about it. Instead he just nodded, letting visions of Roman murdering Seth lift his spirits up.

* * *

Dean tried to tell himself that he didn't seek him out on purpose. He tried to tell himself that he didn't mean to walk al the way back to the hotel. he tried to tell himself that he didn't wander aimlessly through the halls until he found the hotel's gym. He tried to tell himself that he forgot that Seth would always try to squeeze in a workout before going to his room for the night. Yet even as he tried to feed himself these barrage of lies, he knew that he did it on purpose. The earlier confrontation with Seth had replayed itself in his mind over and over again. It had completely fucked him up during his match. He had tried to get past it. He really had. But there was no way for him to do it. Not with what Seth had said to him. Seth had said he missed him. The words had actually come out of his mouth. Dean tried to tell himself there was no way they could be true. Not after everything he did and said. Yet he couldn't make himself believe that. Even after everything, his heart still insisted that he knew Seth better than anyone. And it insisted that those words had been true.

He leaned back against the wall, watching Seth as he worked out. Tennis shoes and gym shorts were the only things he wore. He had his back to Dean, but Dean was fairly certain that he knew he was there. He just wasn't turning around yet. Maybe it was to be stubborn, or maybe he needed the time to collect himself like Dean did. A plan hadn't been formulated before coming over here, which meant Dean had to come up with one on the spot. His head told him to tell Seth to fuck off. It didn't matter that he missed him now. He had his chance and he ruined it. Yeah. That was what he needed to say.

Seth finally turned around. Brown eyes locked on to blue ones, and Dean felt his will melt out of him completely. God fucking damn it. The fucking bastard. How dare he have this effect on him. Bastard. Dean wished he hadn't ever met him. He wished he hadn't let him sink into every part of him, seeping through every cell like a poison. Maybe if he hadn't done that he could have lived in peace.

"Hey." Seth swallowed nervously. He was definitely taken aback that Dean was actually there.

"...Hey." No. No no no. That was not what he was supposed to say. Jesus fucking christ.

"What are you doing here?" Seth shifted around, clearly torn between coming closer and letting Dean have his space.

That was the question of the hour. What was he really doing here? Dean didn't even know at this point. He wanted to tell Seth to fuck off. To yell and scream at him for what he did. Yet at the same time, he wanted to grab him and kiss him. To tell him that he missed him too. To tell him to just fucking come home because being apart was killing him. Such a contradiction, yet here they were.

"Dean?" Seth spoke again while risking a step forward. "Are you alright?"

"No," Dean snapped. "I'm fucking not." He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes. "Do you know how much of a fucking asshole you are?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really?" Dean wasn't buying it. Seth couldn't know. There was no way he could fucking understand that. "

"I said yeah." Seth wiped his sweaty palms against his shorts. "Believe me, I live with what I've done. I know I fucked up."

"Fucked up?" Dean let out a short, bitter laugh. "Really? That's how you describe it?" He uncrossed his arms so he could ball his fists down by his side. "You like...beyond fucked up. You just...how fucking dare you..."

Seth winced and tried to come closer to him.

"Oh fuck no." Dean jumped back, his body growing even more tense as he readied himself to start swinging. "Don't you even...just don't." His voice wavered at his last two words. He didn't mean for it to. It just did that all on its own. "Don't fucking come near me."

Seth stopped, a look of guilt flashing over his face. "Dean I'm so -"

"No! Fuck you! You don't fucking get to apologize!" Dean dug his nails into his palms, pressing so hard he was nearly bleeding. "You just don't fucking get to do that. Not after everything."

"Dean, I know I hurt you -"

"You know SHIT!"

"Dean I'm sorry!" Seth said the words anyway, ignoring Dean's demand to not do so. "I'm fucking sorry, alright? For everything."

It was tempting to call him a liar. It really was. But those words wouldn't come out of Dean's mouth. Instead he shook his head helplessly, fucking hating the ache he felt in his chest. "What fucking good does that do me?" His voice was still wavering, making him feel even more shitty. He did not need to fall apart in front of Seth, yet here he was, about to do just that. "Does sorry take any of it back?"

"Nothing can take it back." Seth took another step forward, bracing himself for the blow that he surely thought was coming. "I know that. If I could take it back, I would."

"Well you can't." Dean shifted his weight from foot to foot, torn between wanting to take a step back and wanting to lunge forward and rip him apart piece by piece. "You fucking can't." He laughed again, this one sounding even more bitter than the one before it. "Do I even want to know the real reason that you did it? Or did you already tell me? Were you telling the truth when you said you never gave a shit about me?"

"No."

Dean snorted. "Considering how you singled me out, I find it fucking hard to believe."

Seth winced, his face going pale at all the memories. "I thought I had to do it to get in with them. I didn't...I just...he got in my head. I got insecure and Hunter played on that."

"Insecure about what? What on fucking earth possessed you to listen to Hunter of all people?"

Seth swallowed hard. "I just...I let myself get like, seduced by all his promises. He promised me fame and glory and shit I didn't think I could get on my own. I don't got Roman's look or his heritage or his power. And I certainly don't got...I just don't...I'm not you. I had it in my head that I was going to get left behind. And he got in there and twisted it all up. And I got weak and selfish and fuck, Dean, I'm sorry. I'm just, I shouldn't...it was never you, alright? It was me. It was all me."

Dean took in those words. There wasn't a lot of shock that came with them. Seth, for his all his smugness, actually really had a raging inferiority complex. But it still pissed Dean off. It fucking pissed him off so much he started shaking. "So you're fucking telling me that you went out there and broke my heart in front of the entire world just because you were too much of a pussy to even consider trying to succeed on your own?"

Seth winced. Even if he knew how bad that was, it certainly sounded worse now that Dean said it out loud. Dean wanted to hit him. He should hit him. But he was frozen to the spot, too infuriated to make a move of any sort just yet.

"You are a fucking piece of shit." That was what Dean could even think to come up with at the moment.

"I know."

"No, you really fucking are. You just...you fucked me over for THAT?" Dean wanted to hit him. He should hit him. Why the fuck wasn't he moving? "After fucking everything, you fuck me over for that bullshit?"

"I fucked up. I got weak."

" _Got_ weak? No, you _are_ weak. Fucking god damn piece of fucking..." Dean couldn't even finish the sentence. He just rubbed his hands over his face, nearly snarling in frustration.

Seth shifted his weight from foot to foot, rightfully hesitating over coming closer. "I know I fucked up."

"This goes beyond fucking up Rollins."

"Dean..."

"I mean, I'm the king of fucking up. Yet I don't think there's a single thing that I ever did that fucking even compares to that shit."

"Cheating on me with Regal kind of sucked." Seth didn't seem to realize he had actually said that out loud until he realized Dean's glare got even more deadly. "Shit."

Dean swallowed down the lump growing in his throat. "So what, this what revenge for that? When I fucking tripped over myself for months to make it up to you and you said you forgave me? Was that a lie? Did you fucking bid your time until I thought we were fucking perfectly god damn happy just to twist the knife in?"

"It wasn't revenge," Seth did take a step forward now, deciding the risk of getting hit was worth it. "It wasn't anything you did."

"And why should I believe you?" Dean stepped forward now, leaving very little space between them. His hands still weren't doing the hitting thing that he wanted them to do. "Why should I believe anything you ever say?"

"I'm not asking you to." Whether he realized it or not, Seth's eyes were now constantly dropping to look at Dean's lips. "I just want you to know I'm sorry."

"...Fuck off Seth." Dean made himself turn around and tried to storm out.

"Dean wait!" Seth grabbed his wrist and turned him back around. It was then a punch finally landed. Dean swung with the other arm, nailing Seth right in the mouth. Seth stumbled back, his lip coming out bloody from the blow. It should have made Dean feel good. But it never did. That had been one of his big lies over the past year. He always claimed that he enjoyed beating up Seth. He made it look like he thrived on kicking the crap out of him. But he never liked it. Not one little bit. And it was even worse now, with Seth standing there, looking so pathetically sad and remorseful.

_No right. He has no right..._

Dean lunged forward, his hands grabbing Seth's head roughly. Seth tried to cry out, his body still expecting a blow. His eyes widened as Dean pulled him into a kiss instead. It wasn't a rational decision by any stretch of the imagination. But rationality wasn't one of his strong suits. Not when it came to this kind of stuff.

They stumbled around until Seth hit the wall back first. His arms were around Dean's neck, his lips hungrily returning the kiss. Dean let his hands wander over Seth's body, loving the feel of it underneath him. This was so fucking wrong. His brain kept trying to repeat that. He had to stop. He needed to stop. He shouldn't forgive Seth. He didn't deserve it. But his heart ached to. Even with telling himself this was wrong, it still felt more right than anything he had done in the past year. Nothing had been right since Seth left. There was a huge chunk of him that was missing without the asshole in his life.

_And how long until he leaves again? You weren't enough before. You won't be again._

Dean broke the kiss, leaving them gasping for breath. They just stared at each other for the longest time, neither one of them knowing what to say. They just stared at each other for the longest time, neither one of them knowing what to say. Dean didn't even know what to think. He just stood there like an idiot, barely able to even breathe at the moment.

"Dean?" Seth was the one to finally break the silence. He reached up and tried to cup Dean's face in his hand.

Dean jerked back from the touch. This was too much. He shouldn't have come here. He couldn't fall back into this. It didn't matter that some part of him ached for it. He needed to get away. Far away.

"Dean wait."

He didn't wait. He couldn't. He swatted Seth's hand away as the younger man tried to grab him again. He was moving again, barreling out of the gym and leaving Seth alone there once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Seth sighed as he flopped down from his couch. He had just gotten back to his apartment with Kevin, who had been getting babysat by Chris Hero, who lived in Orlando too. Chris had invited him out to drinks tonight, but he had shot the invite down. He wouldn't be good company. He didn't even feel like he was good company for Kevin, who was ecstatic to see him. His mind was completely preoccupied by the confrontation that had taken place with Dean. No matter what he did, he couldn't get it out of his head. His mind replayed it over and over again, despite his best efforts to make it stop. Dean had kissed him. Dean had sought him out and had ended up kissing him. That surely couldn't have been the original intention, but that was what had happened anyway.

Seth reached up and ran his fingers over his lips. Even with how much he knew he had been missing Dean, it had become a thousand times more intense since the kiss. Their chemistry had always been off the charts, both in the ring and out. Seth had never felt anything like it with anyone he had been with before, and his attempts to try to capture it with Randy or the slew of groupies the Authority tried to give him had been laughable. None of them compared to Dean. None of them could ever compare to him.

He let out a frustrated sigh as his hand dropped back down to his side. He had tried texting Dean but hadn't had any real success. Not that he had expected to have it. Dean would be looking to avoid him at all costs for at least a little while. He would be mad at the both of them, alternating who he blamed for that moment of weakness. Seth thought about just calling him, but decided against it for now. As much as he hated it, Dean needed the space. He needed to be able to clear his head. They were scheduled to be on the same house shows during the weekend so he could hope to get him alone again there.

Kevin jumped up on the couch with him with one of his toy ropes, his little tail wagging hopefully. Seth grabbed the end of it and engaged in the game of tug of war, though his heart was hardly into it. His thoughts stayed with Dean and all the stuff he had said. He at least been able to apologize and explain himself. It hadn't gone over the best, but that was to be expected. He did wish he hadn't brought up the Regal thing. That wasn't quite on the same level as what he had done. That had been one drunken night in the height of Dean's obsession with the Brit, and the first thing Dean had done was confess it to him. He hadn't spent months telling Seth that he meant nothing to him and that everything he had ever said to him was a lie. He had fucked up and come clean. He had apologized and begged for forgiveness. Seth had broken up with him at the time, too mad to do anything else. But after three weeks of being miserable and seeing Dean reject Regal's next round of advances, he decided to give him another chance. It had taken awhile to be fully back on track even then, but they had gotten there. And they had stayed there until he smashed the chair into Dean's back.

Kevin let go of the rope and whined loudly. Seth smiled sadly and pulled the little dog on to his lap. "I miss him too buddy." He reached over and snagged the TV remote, knowing full well he was just going to flip through all the channels and not actually settle on anything. "You think he'll take me back?"

All he got for an answer was a couple of licks to the face. He took that as a yes to make himself feel a little better.

* * *

Knowing that Roman would quickly figure out that something had happened yet again with Seth if he stayed near him too long, Dean elected to stay at Dolph's place once they all got down to Tampa. About everyone seemed surprised by the decision, Dolph most of all. Nobody questioned him on it though. Instead they just rolled with it, which he was grateful for. He didn't want to get questions thrown at him. He didn't want Roman to find out what happened and get pissed. Roman had been the one to pick up the pieces Dean had been left in after the betrayal. Cleaning up the trashed hotel rooms, flying to Vegas to spend his days off picking him up off the floor when he was drunk and crying...it hadn't been a pretty time and Roman seemed to hate Seth even more than Dean did for the pain he had caused. Dean appreciated the fact that Roman had his back. He really did. But he also didn't want the lecture or the fight that would come if the whole kissing Seth thing came out.

Kissing Seth. Fuck. That hadn't ever been the plan when he went to confront him. Yet that was what had happened. And even as he told himself to stop it, he found himself wanting to do it again. There was a spark with Seth that didn't exist with anyone else. When he kissed him things had suddenly felt right again. His universe had been back in balance. And now that he was laying here, just changing the TV chanels over and over again, it was out of whack once more.

"I think you've past this channel like four times now." Dolph came in from the kitchen, two cold beers in hand. He joined Dean on the couch and handed one of the beverages to him. "Just pick something already."

"Nothing looks good."

"Yeah well, you're making me motion sick by doing that." Dolph took the remote out of Dean's hand and setting it aside, letting it stay on the women's basketball game that was on. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah." Dean cracked open the beer and took a long drink of it. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you kind of look like someone kicked your puppy or something." Dolph nudged his leg lightly with his foot. "You and Roman still fighting?"

"Not yet." Dean didn't realize he was muttering that until the words came out.

Dolph frowned. "You wanna talk about it?"

Dean shook his head. Talking to Dolph didn't seem like a much better idea than talking to Roman. He probably needed to, but he didn't want to do it now. His head hurt too much for that kind of conversation.

The refusal was accepted, though Dean could tell Dolph wasn't entirely happy. He pretended he didn't notice though. Instead he just drank his beer and kept his eyes on the TV. He really wasn't watching the game. Instead he was trying to focus on keeping himself still. He tried to fight the urge to tap his foot or start rubbing at his collarbone. But the harder he tried to stay still, the harder it became to stay that way. He needed to do something. Sitting here meant he was just going to think about Seth. That was not what he needed to do. It really wasn't.

"You want to go do something?" The twitchiness wasn't lost on Dolph. Dean wasn't anywhere near as good at hiding it as he tried to pretend to be.

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Dolph shut off the TV and stood up. "It's a nice day out. We could go grab the others and go do something."

The idea wasn't exactly something Dean was dying to do, but he didn't fight it. Instead he pushed himself up to his feet and followed Dolph out to the car. Maybe this would be good for him. It certainly couldn't hurt anyway.

* * *

"A carnival guys?" Roman tried to sound exasperated, though he was giving himself away by the twitching in his lips. "Really?"

"Yes Miz," AJ replied without even looking back at him. She and Paige were leading the way, their hands clasped tightly together." Really." She was the one who had found out this was being held at one of the local parks. And to get them all to go, she had weaseled her way into driving the car and just refusing to tell them where she was taking him. The action surprised absolutely nobody. When she really wanted something, she did anything to get her way. And it was very, very hard to stop her.

"You could have at least warned us," Dolph pointed out. He kept looking around, seemingly (and probably rightfully) expecting them to start getting bombarded by fans. "We could have gone incognito or something."

"If I warned you then you would have said no."

Paige looked back at them, giving them all an apologetic look. "She has a point."

Dolph and Roman both groaned. Dean just smirked, not really giving a shit. He had already seen a stand that was selling funnel cake, which made this plan more than okay with him.

"Ferris wheel!" AJ's yell attracted more than a little attention." We should do the ferris wheel first."

"Oh hell no." Roman shook his head furiously. "Fuck no. Fuck that."

"Why not?" She turned around and pouted at him.

"Romeo don't like heights." Dean clapped a hand on Roman's shoulder, an evil grin crossing his face. "He's a little bit chicken."

"I am not chicken." Roman knocked Dean's hand off of him with a glare. "That thing just looks like it's gonna fall apart the minute we get on it."

"Oh it does not." Dean grabbed Roman's arm and started pulling him along.

"Fuck no." Roman dragged his feet stubbornly. "You are not getting me on that. Fuck you."

"Dean come on." Dolph tried to step in and play peacemaker. "We'll go. He can stay down here and watch."

"Or just go and buy me cotton candy." Paige pulled a twenty out of her pocket and handed it to Roman. "And a diet Coke with it."

"Get me kettle corn!" AJ gestured to the money Paige handed over, clearly indicating that she in no way would be handing over any of her own cash. "And regular Coke. Diet stuff is gross."

"Done." Roman was more than happy to take right off and get it. "You want anything Dolph?"

"Snow cone. Cherry if they got it."

"Cool." Roman started to take off and get that all.

"Hey!" Dean frowned in confusion. "What about me?"

Roman smirked. "What makes you think you should get anything?"

"Because I'm your best friend!"

"My best friend who calls me chicken and tries to make me ride terrible rides."

"But...I do it out of love?" Dean gave him his best wide eyed, puppy dog look.

Roman sighed in defeat. "Funnel cake?"

Dean grinned. "And a pretzel."

"Didn't you get sick last time you ate one of those?"

"Maybe. But I'll just puke again on you if I do."

"Fucking jackass..." Roman smacked Dean upside the head before taking off. Dean laughed at his expense before letting himself get dragged over to the ride. Paige and AJ rode in one cart while he and Dolph got on the other. For shits and giggles he tried to rock it when they stopped at the top, only to receive a swift elbow to the ribs for his trouble.

"Owwww!"

"Don't be a fuck ass." Dolph kept his elbow raised, ready to strike again. "You're not killing me just because you like to be a little asshole."

Dean huffed loudly. "You people are just too sensitive." He folded his arms over his chest and slumped down. "I don't know why I hang out with any of you."

Dolph just laughed at him.

"I'm serious here! You people -" He didn't get to finish that thought. Dolph's lips were on his, cutting him off with a long, gentle kiss. His eyes widened, his body freezing up on him completely. It was too gentle. This was not how they kissed. Yet here they were, Dolph being completely tender as he deepened the kiss. Oh fuck. Ohhh fuck. This was really not what he needed. He had enough complications in his life without having Dolph kiss him like this.

They broke apart and Dolph just looked at him, clearly wanting to say something. Dean stared right back at him, feeling like a total deer in the headlights. Dolph was a good guy. It wasn't like he had ever thought otherwise. But he hadn't been looking for anything more than a fuck buddy, and he thought that was what Dolph wanted to. Dolph had been saying he hadn't been interested in anything serious since he broke up with AJ. Yet now as they kept staring at each other, Dean's gut told him something had changed.

The ride started moving again, breaking the moment. They stayed silent for the rest of it, neither really knowing what the fuck to do now. When they got off they found Roman waiting for them with all their food.

"Take your shit." His hands held most of the stuff, while some of it was pressed against him by his arms. "Take it. Take it before I drop it."

"Got it!" AJ took her stuff before bouncing up and kissing his cheek. "Thank you Romie."

"Yeah thank you." Paige took her stuff and kissed his other cheek.

"Yeah yeah yeah..." Roman handed Dolph and Dean their things while glaring at him. "Don't you two get any ideas."

Even without exchanging a look, the same idea came into both of their heads. They went in at the same time, Dolph pressing an obnoxiously sloppy kiss to one cheek while Dean just licked the whole side of Roman's face.

"Jeeeesus!" Roman shoved Dean away and furiously wiped his cheek off. "The fuck man? Are you a damn dog or something?"

"Uh huh." Dean took a huge bite of his funnel cake first, letting the powdered sugar fall all over his shirt. "Woof woof mother fucker."

Roman just let out a long sigh. "God help me..."

* * *

After the carnival they ended up back at Roman's house with an upset stomach (Dean), a giant stuffed panda (AJ), a stuffed fish (Paige), puke covered shoes (Roman, thanks to Dean after he rode the octopus) and a migraine (Dolph, after having to drive while everyone fought over the radio on the way back). AJ was insisting on the whole sleepover deal and nobody wanted to fight her. Dolph insisted on a nap though, so he immediately took off to one of the guest rooms. Roman went to take a shower, muttering about having to go and buy new shoes later. Paige decided to go and pick them up a pizza, leaving AJ and Dean alone to take over Roman's Netflix. And given that it was Dean's personal duty to get the absolute worst of the worst movies recommended for Roman, he turned on Sharknado 2 for their viewing pleasure.

"How did I miss the fact that they made a sequel?" AJ looked absolutely disappointed with herself. "How? I'm usually terrific with these things."

Dean just shrugged. "I just happened to stumble on it myself. I hadn't even seen the first one when I watched it."

"Seriously? You can't watch a sequel before you see the first one. That's like, against the law of movies."

"Whoops." Dean shrugged, not actually giving much of a shit. He kicked off his shoes and grabbed the pillow so he could lay down. He shouldn't have scarfed down both the pretzel and the funnel cake. Not before going on that stupid ride anyway. That kind of shit always got him in trouble.

"Did you ever actually watch the first?" AJ wasn't letting the subject go.

"Yeah." He looked around, hoping he had somehow missed the fact that a blanket was nearby. Unfortunately he hadn't.

"I liked that one better." AJ crossed her legs Indian style and sighed. "The first movies are always better."

"You think?"

"Mhm."

"I -" The sound of his phone buzzing caught Dean's attention. He dug it out of his pocket, freezing up when he saw that it was another text from Seth. He had about three unopened ones from the other man already. He had stared at each notification, fighting off the urge to open each one. He knew that really wasn't fair. He was the one who had sought Seth out and kissed him. He had probably confused the fuck out of him. But shit, he was fucking confused. And he couldn't even deal with his confusion if he had Seth's on top of it.

"What does he want?"

Dean frowned and looked over at AJ. She wasn't sitting close enough to him to have a clear view of his phone. How she could even know was beyond him.

"You have Seth face." She saw his confusion and tried to clear it up for him.

"I have what?"

"Seth face." She sighed as he just stared at her in bafflement. "What? You don't know? You got this wickedly bad sad face whenever his name is even mentioned. It's worse when he's like nearby."

Dean groaned. "I'm really that obvious?"

"With him? Fuck yeah." She gestured towards his phone. "What does he want?"

"Don't know." He shoved his phone back to his pocket.

"You're not even gonna read it?"

"No."

"Because you don't care or because you're scared?"

He glared at her. "I ain't scared of nothin'."

"Yeah well, I know it ain't because you don't care..." Her words were met with a more fierce glare. "It's okay to still care. I still cared about people even after they hurt me."

Dean dropped the glare, knowing she was just trying to help. "I just...I fucking hate him for what he did."

"But you miss him."

He stayed quiet.

"And you still love him."

More silence."

AJ sighed. "Dean, does he want you back?" She waited and didn't get anything. "Do you want him back?"

Such a fucking loaded question that was. His gut instinct though was to say yes, which twisted him up inside. Even after everything he still wanted to be the fool that fell for Seth all over again.

AJ got up and walked over to the couch. "Listen," she said as she lifted his feet so she could sit down. "You're the one he hurt the most. No matter what anyone else thinks, it's up to you to decide if he's worth forgiving. He fucked you over, but maybe he's changed. Daniel did. He's not like he was with me to Brie. And we've reached a point where we can be civil."

"And what if he's not really changing?" Dean hated how fucking vulnerable he sounded as he asked that. "What if he just fucks me over again?"

"Maybe he will," she replied with a shrug. "Maybe he won't. It won't be your fault if he does though."

"Wouldn't it be?" He thought about sitting up, but his stomach protested that idea. "If I'm dumb enough to fall for it..."

"Well I'm not saying that you should like, fall back into the sack with him right away." AJ patted him on the knee. "Just like, maybe give him a chance to prove whether he's really sorry or not. Then you can decide whether you actually want to forgive him."

She made it sound so easy. But it certainly didn't feel that way. Not to him. The idea of leaving himself vulnerable to getting hurt again scared the shit out of him. "The hell are you even saying this for anyway? You don't even like Seth."

"Well no," she admitted. "But I remember how it was when people were telling me what to do or what to feel when it came to my exes. Nobody gave a shit about what _I_ wanted." She patted his knee again. "It sucks. And as much as I like watching Seth get punched for treating all of us like grade A garbage, it's not really fair to ignore your feelings."

He raised his eyebrows. "Dude, I think you're growing as a person."

"I know. It's awful."

The sound of footsteps ended their conversation right there. Roman came into the room, a frown immediately crossing his face. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," AJ lied before Dean could.

Roman just stared at her. "Nothing?"

"Nothing." She wasn't budging. "Come watch Sharknado 2 with us."

"Sh - oh come on guys!" Roman threw his hands up in exasperation. "Not on my Netflix!"

Dean smirked. He knew Roman would pry at him eventually, but he was grateful for not getting it quite yet. "What? You don't want to broaden your horizons with this masterpiece?"

Roman just glared at him before sitting down where AJ had previously been. "First you puke on me and now this. You so owe me."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I know I know." He put his legs so they were stretched across AJ's lap and reached back behind his head to fluff his pillow. "Remind me of that later. I just want to watch this shit now."


	7. Chapter 7

The day of their next house show finally came and Seth found himself being one of the first to arrive at the arena. He had skipped out on working out to make it before almost everyone else, needing the time to try to think of how he was going to approach Dean. What he could think of that he hadn't already tried to in his days off was beyond him, but here he was all the same. Maybe his ability to rise up when he was under pressure could come back and help him out. Or maybe he was just an idiot who was fucked. That was also a pretty viable option. It wasn't like Dean had actually responded to any of his texts. The only solace he really had on that one was knowing that Dean was actually just legitamately terrible at responding to anyone's messages. He was just forgetful like that.

He stashed his stuff in one of the empty rooms and took a walk through the backstage area. The non-televised aspect of the show made the mood much more relaxed for the agents and crew members. He walked right past them all, not one to ever really pay attention to them. Instead he headed to where he knew the match listings would be posted. He expected to see himself facing Dolph since they had just wrestled on TV. Or if not him, then he figured it would be Ryback. It had been him for the weeks leading up to their pay per view kick off match. But when he got to the list posted on the wall, he found himself staring at it in shock. He reread the name opposite of his several times, trying to see if he was just imagining things. He wasn't though. What he was seeing was really real. It was really happening.

He was wrestling Dean again.

He kept staring at their names, not even caring who the hell else was on the list. He and Dean hadn't faced off in the ring since their match at Hell in a Cell. He had gotten preoccupied by Cena while Dean had been forced to turn his attention towards Bray Wyatt. Their career paths had only gotten further apart after that, yet here they were again. He wasn't even going to question who made the decision or why. He didn't care. This was what he needed to get Dean alone. Dean couldn't run from him in the ring. They weren't on TV, which meant no mics in the ring. As long as he disguised it as trash talk, he could actually talk to him in there.

The sound of people coming made him walk the other way. He headed back to his makeshift dressing room, the butterflies already fluttering inside his stomach. There had always been something about wrestling Dean that was just so different than when he got in the ring with anyone else. They created magic that couldn't be touched by anyone. It had been that way since the first time they had ever stepped foot in the ring together.

_It was the match everyone had been waiting for. In the near year he had been down in FCW, Seth hadn't ever felt this kind of a buzz for a match. The fans, the other boys, the trainers - once Dean's intentions had become clear, it had become the thing everyone wanted to see. As far as talent went, he and Dean were the most experienced and well traveled out of all the guys in FCW. They weren't WWE bred guys; they had cut their teeth in other areas, making their own name and cementing their reputations. But in all their time on the indy scene, they hadn't actually crossed paths before. Seth had certainly heard of Ambrose though. He had seen some of the violent and chaotic matches from CZW. He had listened the promos Dean had cut while being the leader of Kamikaze USA. He was dangerous. He was definitely a bit out of his mind. But he was still the most captivating person Seth had ever laid eyes on._

_The bell rang and Dean was in his face and talking all sorts of trash. His eyes were wide, dancing with a sort of manic glee that should have made Seth turn around and go in the other direction. But not only did he stay, he felt something stirring inside of him. His heart was starting to beat faster in his chest and it felt hard to breathe. This was it. This was fucking it._

_Something clicked the moment they touched. A spark within the second they locked up for the first time. And the spark turned into a fire as the next fifteen minutes went on._ _It went way beyond what they were doing in the ring. It was something deeper. Something more primal. Dean could feel it too. Seth fucking knew it just by looking at his eyes. And for as infuriating as Dean had been over the past few weeks, Seth found himself caring less and less about it. The urge to strangle Dean was being replaced by wanting to smash their lips together. He wanted to know what Dean tasted like. He wanted to feel Dean's hands running up and down his body. He wanted to just forget about this match and drag Dean to the back so they could find an empty room to fuck in. These thoughts kept spinning around in his head and Dean knew. He had such a smug look in his eyes and Seth silently cursed him as he felt himself turn to jelly on the inside._

"Watch it Rollins!"

Nikki's voice scared the shit out of Seth. He had collided into her without realizing it, making her spill her coffee all over herself. "Shit." He winced apologetically, his head turning every which way to try to find a something to help wipe her clean with. "I'm sorry."

"Sure you are." Nikki, who had been in the foulest of moods since losing the title to AJ, didn't even want to hear his apology. Instead she stormed off, making sure to shove him on her way. He stumbled back a bit, watching her go with wide eyes. Maybe he should have been paying attention, but he had been going to help. She hadn't needed to get that pissy.

"Fuck it," he muttered to himself. "I'm not sorry then." He shook his head and started walking once more. He did try to keep his thoughts more grounded now, knowing he had to focus on his upcoming match. Even with this being what he now wanted, there was no way Dean would make it easy on him. He would probably beat the ever living shit out of him, but he could take it. Maybe Dean would actually talk to him after he got it out of his system. Or in the very least, he wouldn't keep getting ignored.

* * *

"The fuck is this shit? Where the fuck is Stardust? Why aren't you like fighting him or something?"

Dean had no answer to Roman's questions. He made a half hearted attempt to think of something, but then just stayed quiet in favor of continuing to tape up his hands. He had to wrestle Seth tonight. That had been the last thing he had been expecting, and he had no idea what to do with himself. He had spent days ignoring Seth's attempts to contact him, still unsure of what the fuck he should do. He had his brain telling him to just finally forget about the younger man. He didn't need to put himself out there to get hurt again. But at the same time, he ached to do it. He missed Seth. He missed him more than he could stand. He could lie and say he didn't, but he knew he did. The empty, gnawing feeling in his chest that had existed for the past year was proof enough of that.

"This is fucking bullshit." Roman was still going. He was pacing back and forth, seemingly not worried at all about his upcoming match with Rusev. That wasn't good at all, considering how dangerous the Bulgarian was. "You fucking don't need to be near him."

"It's fine." Dean tossed the tape aside before clenching and unclenching his fists a few times. The tape was tight, but not so much so that it would cut his circulation. "I can beat him."

"I'm not worried about you being able to beat him." Roman stopped pacing to put his hands on his hips. "I'm worried that he's gonna use this as a way to fucking slither back in."

"The fuck does that even mean?"

"Him helping you when you got blinded on Raw, him texting you again...

"How the fuck do you even know about that?"

"You left your phone on my counter when you and Dolph stayed over and it went off while you were sleeping."

"So you went through it?!"

"No!" Roman looked offended now. "Your stupid phone went off and his number popped up. I didn't actually read anything." He shook his head, still miffed at Dean's accusation. "I do have actual respect for you uce." He watched Dean look away angrily. "I don't trust him, alright?"

"I know," Dean muttered.

"After what he did -"

"Don't remind me of what he did, alright?" Dean looked at Roman once more, his eyes narrowing in anger. "I fucking remember what he did. It wasn't you he beat like a dozen times with a steel chair, now was it?" He stood up, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly now. "Just stop telling me what the fuck to do, alright? I can't fucking handle that shit."

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do," Roman insisted. "I just don't want you to get hurt again."

Dean knew that. He really did. But AJ's words were popping back into his head. It should be up to him if he forgave Seth or not. He didn't even know if he really would, but the choice still needed to be his. He didn't need Roman trying to swoop in so much to save the day. Being told what to do or how to feel really did fucking suck. "I can handle myself, okay?" He closed the distance between them and knocked their foreheads together. "You don't got to be so up my ass all the time."

"Someone's gotta be up your ass."

Dean snickered at that.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, are you five?" He pushed Dean away and pointed to the door. "Go and win your match. Don't let him get to you."

"Fucker ain't taking my belt."

"Not what I said Dean."

Dean just grunted and went out the door. He couldn't say Seth wouldn't get to him. Such a bold faced lie couldn't be done to Roman's face, even if it would make him feel better.

* * *

The buzz that had come from their very first match together was in the air again. Only this time, it was much, much stronger. The fans had seen how intense their rivalry had gotten over the summer. They had seen Seth curb stomp Dean's head into cinder blocks while Dean popped out from just about everywhere to rip him apart. The other wrestlers had seen all that and more. They had seen Dean screaming at Seth as he passed in the hallway, having to be held back by Roman and security so he wouldn't start strangling Seth where he stood. They knew he had fallen apart. The train wreck of it all captivated them. Seth knew that most wanted Dean to tear him apart. There were a few though that wanted him to take Dean down with him. But he wouldn't. He didn't give a shit about winning or losing this match. What he cared about was Dean. And as he stood in the ring, watching Dean come in through the ropes to join him, it was hard not to smile.

Dean unhooked his Intercontinental title from around his waist and got right in Seth's face. "Did you fucking orchestrate this?" He held the title up, using it to make the crowd think he was telling Seth he wouldn't win it or something.

"I don't have that kind of power," Seth reminded him. He played his part right back, pretending to trash talk while he responded. "I can't do jack shit anymore."

"Yeah fucking right." Dean muttered that, meaning he knew Seth was right but didn't want to admit it. "I'm sure you're fucking loving it though." He handed the title to the ref and stepped back. "Fucking bastard."

"Maybe if you hadn't ignored me I wouldn't have to be happy about it."

"The fuck was I supposed to say? And you know what? I don't owe you shit!"

"I never said you did. But you were the one who kissed me Dean!"

The ref stared back and forth between them, his eyes wide. "Can I uh, start the match?" He almost sounded scared to even ask.

Dean snarled and lunged forward, taking Seth's legs out from under him and raining down punches. The ref just went ahead and called for the bell, deciding to let them just duke it out. Seth yelped, trying to get himself on the defensive as fast as he could. He managed to roll himself on top of Dean, getting in a few shots of his own before Dean regained control. "Fuck! Dean!"

Dean just growled in response. The punches continued, which wasn't surprising. He was relentless once he got started. Seth had to act fast or his face was going to be completely bashed in. He reached up and grabbed a handful of Dean's hair, yanking on it until Dean yelped and ceased his punching. He immediately flipped them over, settling all of his weight down on Dean's hips. He grabbed Dean's hands, lacing their fingers together before pinning them down above Dean's head. Dean's eyes widened, his body stilling as he realized their position. Seth froze as well, his breath catching as he stared into Dean's eyes. _Oh fuck. Oh fuck..._

"One!" The ref slid down and hit his hand against the mat. "Two!"

Dean managed to shoot one of his arms up, getting his shoulder off the mat. Seth pushed it back down, getting another two count before Dean moved the other arm up. This was still too much. This had sparked something in Seth's stomach, the fire of it quickly coursing through his veins. He wanted to just kiss Dean right then and there. He wanted to forget about the match and just go to the back with Dean. He wanted to just start fighting for the forgiveness he craved. Even if Dean was still harboring feelings for him, the things he did wouldn't be just be forgiven or forgotten. Dean wouldn't just trust him. He'd have to scratch and claw and fight to get that. Maybe he wouldn't ever manage. But he wanted to try. He NEEDED to try.

Dean shoved him off and they were both rolling up to their feet. Seth didn't even find himself thinking about the match. They had faced so many times that everything felt like instinct. Dean knew his moves better than anyone, yet at the same time, he knew Dean's just as well. They didn't just have counters; they had counters to each other's counters. And the crowd was loving every second of it. They were solidly behind Dean, who was feeding off their energy. Seth remembered when they as the Shield had started becoming loved. It had been weird for him. He had always been on the bad side of the fans. It was a role he could easily put himself in. He liked having people hate him because that was what he was used to. But now they loved him. He wasn't the sell out like Seth was. He wasn't being labeled the next Cena like Roman, therefore dividing the loyalty. He was their wrecking ball. An underdog not so much in size, but in where he came from. He didn't have the heritage Roman did nor the corporate backing that Seth once had. They saw how he fought for anything and everything and Seth had never said how proud he was of Dean. He kept it under wraps even back when they were together, knowing Dean would call him a sap. But it was true and he didn't regret thinking it, even when it distracted him and caused him to eat a huge clothesline that turned him inside out.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" The fans yells echoed throughout the arena. "THIS IS AWESOME."

Seth started to get back up, looking over to Dean as he did. Dean was staggering up to his feet as well. Seth had the advantage on him for awhile, leaving him a bit beat up still. But even with that, he was smiling. He was fucking smiling. Seth wasn't even sure why. Maybe he was just in the moment. Or he was just that happy to get to beat his face in. Fuck it. He didn't care. He made himself stand the rest of the way, his own fist raised and ready to strike again.

The crowd noise suddenly shifted, turning from cheers to shouts of disbelief. Dean's expression shifted, his smile turning into one of concern. He was looking at something over Seth's shoulder. Seth tried to turn around. He barely got the move completed though. Dean was faster than him, yanking him out of the way of the fan who rushed the ring. It was just occurring to Seth that the fan had meant to attack when Dean dropped the guy with a single punch. "Holy..."

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT SHIT?" Dean screamed at the security guards, who slid into the ring to yank the fan out. "THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE GETTING PAID FOR?"

"Ambrose calm down," the referee pleaded.

"Fuck you!" Dean's fury turned to him and Seth swore Dean was about to hit him right there. That was the last thing he needed to do. Vince didn't put up with referee abuse like he used to. At best he would fine Dean for it. At worst he would suspend him and strip him of his title. Seth couldn't let that happen. Not after Dean just saved his ass.

"Dean come on. Just -" Seth reached out and put a hand on Dean's shoulder, which ended up being a mistake. Dean turned right around, booting him in the gut and hitting a quick Dirty Deeds. He felt himself being turned on his back, and Dean covered him with his whole body, discreetly hiding his face against Seth's neck as he did it.

"I fucking miss you too asshole." The admission was quick and gruff. Dean sounded pissed at himself for breaking down and admitting it. "Happy now?"

Seth didn't say a word. Instead he let a smile cross over his face, not even caring that the referee's hand was hitting the mat and making the three count. Fuck it. He didn't need the title anyway. He had a much more important victory under his belt.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update this week since I got it finished. Hope you guys enjoy.

_Roman chewed on his lower lip as he watched the match unfold. Knowing that Dean was facing Seth meant that he didn't want to just wait backstage and hear from Dean how it went. Fuck that. He had tried to go up to the curtain to watch it, but after getting harassed by the agents, he had snuck off up to the balcony seats that had gotten taped off. The view sucked ass, but he was at least in the know of what was going on. Dolph had joined him, the bleached blonde not looking any happier than he was about this. Neither one of said a word to the other. Roman thought he should. He liked Dolph. He liked him with Dean. For all his brash cockiness, he was a good guy at heart. But none of that seemed to matter to Dean. He was just so stuck on Seth. He always had been. And it was starting to feel like he always would be._

_The fans were absolutely on fire for the match. Roman couldn't really blame them. Seth and Dean had an in ring chemistry like no other. Wrestling soul mates was what Seth had said they were. And watching them go at it, it was hard to disagree. They just fit so well together in that ring. They always had._

_"Maybe it's just me, but do they seem like they're going a little easy on each other?" Dolph finally broke the silence they had been sitting in._

_Roman looked over at him. Dolph stared back at him, patiently waiting for the answer. Roman looked back at the ring, watching Seth and Dean carefully before looking at Dolph once more. "Maybe compared to the summer yeah."_

_Dolph said nothing. He just stared down at the ring and watched as Seth worked Dean over with an armbar. "Do you think you could ever forgive him? If he was like, really sorry?"_

_Roman had no answer for him. It wasn't something he had really considered. Getting betrayed by Seth had hurt. Seth had been like a brother to him. They had been partners not only in thier six man wars, but they had been tag champions together too. Seth had done more than Dean to take him under his wing and help make him a better wrestler. And once he and Dean had gotten past their issues and really became close, Seth meant all the more to him because he made Dean happy. But then it had all went to hell. Seth had chosen the Authority over them and not only did he lose a brother, but Dean had pretty much lost his world. Roman had spent night after night trying to piece back the shattered remains of Dean's heart. He never felt like he really succeeded. They were brothers while Seth had been Dean's other half. There wasn't much Roman could think to do that would actually fill that void._

_"Do you think he'd ever really forgive him?"_

_Roman still didn't have an answer. Part of him wanted to say no. Dean wasn't the forgiving type. It was so hard to gain his trust in the first place. Regaining it was surely impossible. Yet if anyone could, Roman had a distinct feeling that it would be Seth._ _Dean missed him. Sometimes he would lie and say he didn't. He would say he hated him. But Roman knew better. Dean hated what Seth did. He hated what he became. But he didn't hate HIM. Not HIS Seth._

_The match continued, Dean eventually getting an advantage back. Roman nodded his approval, wanting Dean to captialize and get the win already. But then Dean froze. Roman didn't understand at first. Not until the fan was already in the ring. His eyes widened as he watched Dean grab Seth and pull him out of the way. He watched as Dean swung his fist and nailed the fan in the face. The fan crumpled to the ground and now Dean was yelling at the referee and the security guards, who were dragging the fan away. Seth just stood there dumbly, seemingly in shock. Dean had saved him. The fan had been coming for him and Dean had saved him._

_"Roman..." Dolph stopped there, just looking at him now._

__"Come on." Roman stood up and turned his back to the ring. He didn't need to see more. He needed to just get to the locker room so he could talk to Dean. "Let's go."_ _

* * *

Seth ignored the stares he got as he made it backstage. He didn't give a shit about any of them. He was looking for Dean. Dean hadn't stuck around to do much celebrating. He had just bailed, leaving Seth to pick himself up off the mat and go after him. He had find him before Roman or Dolph got to him. If they got to Dean first then he had no idea when he'd get the chance to talk to him. And they needed to talk. They couldn't just keep dancing around this. They missed each other. Dean had kissed him. Dean had protected him. For all the horrible things he had said and done, something was still there between them. Maybe he could find a way to salvage it.

He slipped past Summer Rae and Cameron and moved down the hall. He didn't bother asking anyone which way Dean went. Even if they would tell him, he didn't actually need him to. Dean would need air. In lieu of going for a smoke anymore, he went out to get some air. So Seth kept going, getting himself out the back entrance to where all their cars were parked. Dean was indeed there, pacing back and forth while clenching and unclenching his fists. He didn't look over at Seth as he approached. He just kept walking, muttering something under his breath. It was too quiet for Seth to hear. He thought about getting closer, but then opted to keep his distance. He knew Dean was aware that he was there. He could tell from the way Dean tensed up. But instead of crowding him, he wanted to give him the space to sort himself out.

The pacing continued, making for a very long few minutes. Finally Dean stopped to look up at him. Blue eyes blazed angrily, making Seth swallow nervously. "This doesn't change anything."

"I know." Seth tried to keep his voice from wavering as he replied. He knew Dean still had the right to have venom in his voice. He still had the right to be angry.

"I'm serious." Dean clenched his fists and kept them that way this time. "I miss you, but that don't mean shit's okay between us. It might not ever be."

"Dean -"

"No. Just don't."

Seth knew he should stop but his mouth wasn't listening to his brain. "What I did...it's not something I would do again."

"And am I supposed to just believe that?" Dean's eyes narrowed angrily. "Like, fucking come on Seth. You fucked me over in front of the entire world. You made me feel like a piece of shit mistake just like -" he sucked in a harsh breath and his voice cracked as he spoke again "- just like _they_ fucking did."

"Dean please..."

"You fucking threw me away like a piece of fucking trash."

"I know I did. And I'm fucking sorry. I fucked up." Seth took a step forward, not caring if he was about to eat a punch to the face. "I want to make it up to you. I need to make it better."

"And what if you can't?"

"I don't know." The admission was honest. Seth couldn't even think of that possiblity. "Are you saying I don't have a chance at all?"

"...I don't fucking know." Dean let out a short laugh of disbelief. "You fucking fucked it all up. Again."

"Yeah, I guess I'm good at that," Seth admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Yeah right." The words weren't said with as much malice as Dean probably intended. Seth looked back up to just see Dean shaking his head. "You probably wanted this all along you fuck."

"I guess if it gives me a chance..."

"Don't count your chickens mother fucker. Even if I decide to start forgiving you, Roman might go ahead and kill ya anyway."

Seth winced. Shit. He hadn't really thought of Roman. "You think he'd actually do it?"

Dean's response was just to look over his shoulder. Seth turned around and groaned. Roman was standing about ten feet away, gray eyes narrowed dangerously at him. He was suddenly felt like a boy who was facing down the overprotective father of a virgin teenage girl. All they needed was a porch for Roman to sit on and a shotgun to hold and it would all be complete.

"Don't you have a match to get ready for?" Dean broke the silence because he was Dean and he wasn't really good at letting things stay quiet.

"I wanted to find you first." Roman may have been speaking to Dean, but his eyes stayed focused on Seth. If looks could kill the younger man would have died a thousand times over. His gaze was so intense that Dolph was barely noticeable behind him.

"Oh fucking christ Ro." Dean rolled his eyes before walking over to him. "Come the fuck on. You've got a title to retain."

Roman just grunted, keeping his gaze on Seth until Dean started to drag him away. Seth watched them and Dolph go back into the building, letting out a sigh as the door closed behind them. "What a fucking night," he muttered under his breath. He rubbed his glove covered hands over his face. His brain felt like it was swimming from everything. It was almost too much really. He couldn't even bring himself to go inside and change yet. Instead he just stood there, taking in the air that he suddenly so desperately needed.

* * *

It surprised Roman when Dean asked to room with him. It went unsaid that Roman knew about what happened during the match. Dean had just looked at him and knew that he knew. Roman had thought that meant that Dean wouldn't want to go near him. He thought Dean would be looking to avoid a lecture. Yet Dean had wanted to spend the night with him. And in order to not send the other man storming off angrily, Roman held back from the lecture that was probably still being expected. Not that they wouldn't be talking about it at all. They had to talk about Seth. They had to fucking address the growing elephant in the room, but Roman wanted to take the time to think about his approach. He didn't want to start a fight. He didn't like fighting with Dean period, but fighting with him over Seth felt like an even worse thing to have happen. His betrayal hadn't destroyed their bond and Roman would be damned if his attempts to slither back in would be the thing to do it.

Roman left Dean to watch TV in order to get into the shower. His body was feeling the effects of his match against Rusev. Bastard was as tough as they came. He slipped out of his clothes, wincing the whole time. His back had taken a tremendous amount of punishment. He took a moment to breathe deeply and collect himself before stepping into the shower. He turned the water on as hot as he could stand it, letting the heat soothe his aching muscles. He let out a low groan. In that moment his mind went blank. He forgot all about everything from his own aches and pains to his worry for Dean over Seth. The reprieve didn't last long. It never did. By the time he got the soap to start washing his body, thoughts of Seth and Dean had invaded his mind once again.

_"Seth! Oh my god you fuck!"_

__Roman raised his eyebrows as that cry was let out. He was just_ _coming back from the hotel gym, turning to get to the hall that lead to their room. Dean could be heard laughing and nearly shrieking from their room now, making Roman walk faster to get there. Whatever they were doing was going to get them thrown out of the hotel. He slipped his hand into the pocket of his gym shorts and pulled out the key. He stuck it in the slot, getting the green light as he pulled it out. He opened the door and slipped inside, quietly shutting the door behind him. He already had his mouth open to tell them to stop, but the words died in his throat as his eyes caught sight of them on the bed. Seth was straddling Dean's hips, holding him down that way while his fingers mercilessly tickled his ribs. Dean squirmed, his laughing harsh and breathless as he failed to get away. He was nearly crying he was laughing so hard and Seth was grinning from ear to ear because of it.__

_"You're such an asshole!" Dean struggled to get that statement_ _out. "Oh my fucking god Seth!"  
_

_"What?" Seth tried so hard to sound innocent and failed so_ _completely. "I'm not doing anything."  
_

_"I'll kill ya." The threat didn't sound nearly as menacing as_ _Dean surely intended. "Oh my god Seth...gahhh!" Seth dug his fingers_ _faster into Dean's ribs and Dean shook his head. "Seth!"_

_Seth stopped and leaned down, claiming Dean's lips in a kiss._ _Dean used the opportunity to slap Seth upside the head before returning_ _it. Roman shook his head, tossing his gym bag down to the floor. He_ _cleared his throat to finally get their attention. "Hi guys."  
_

Roman shook his head as he rinsed himself off. That particular incident hadn't been long after their debut match at TLC. He had been used to them trying to fuck each other on any available surface at that point, but that was the first time he had ever seen them be cute. It had shocked him really. He hadn't really thought that was them. Dean always went out of his way to be harsh and gruff, while Seth was just always so keyed up and zeroed in on their careers that it seemed like he never relaxed. But in the process of becoming their brother, he saw the other side of them. How Seth would relax and spend hours snuggled on the couch with Dean, just making fun of Dean's deliberately terrible Netflix picks. How Seth could listen to Dean ramble on and on as they drove and not get lost at any point, even when Dean was being extra terrible with his segues. He saw Dean go out of his way to do romantic stuff that he claimed to hate if Seth even just mentioned that it would be nice to do. He had woken up some nights to find Dean awake and holding Seth, his fingers lightly playing with his hair all the while. Being gentle wasn't something that seemed to be natural for Dean, but god how he tried for Seth.

_"Dean I'm fine. Really."_

_Seth's words went in one of Dean's ears and out the other. The_ _three of them were back in their hotel room, tired, beaten up but still_ _victorious from their match against Cena, Sheamus and Orton. With it_ _being on a house show, the agents decided to make it a hardcore match to_ _make it special for the crowd. That had been all fine and well until_ _Sheamus had rather recklessly put Seth through a table. Roman had seen_ _Dean get pissed before, but once that happened that had been it. He had_ _tried to tear Sheamus apart completely, only stopping when Orton and Cena_ _had pulled him off. His fury had gone to them next, which let Roman slip_ _in to hit the spear on Orton and get the pinfall for them. That hadn't_ _done anything to brighten Dean's mood though. He had cussed the whole way_ _back to the hotel before quieting down long enough to get Seth laid down_ _on the bed with some ice packs. Seth was laying on his stomach, allowing_ _Dean to put the packs all over his back. The one on his neck was being_ _held in place by Dean, who was insisting that it was needed even with_ _Seth objecting._

_"Dean, you would kill me if I was doing this to you."  
_

_"Don't care." Dean used his free hand to toss the remote to_ _Roman. "Find something on big man."  
_

_Roman turned on the TV and flipped the channel to the news. He_ _tried to keep his eyes on it, but he kept stealing glances over at Dean_ _and Seth. Seth kept squirming, not stopping until Dean would lean down_ _and place a bunch of kisses along the side of his face. The squirming_ _would then stop until Dean pulled away for more than a few seconds. Roman_ _felt a smile cross his face. For as much as Seth tried to claim Dean was_ _an attention whore, he certainly wasn't slacking off in that department._

_Seth caught on to the fact Roman was looking and made a face at_ _him. "The fuck you looking at Rome?"_

Roman turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off. His dirty clothes and the wet towel were all just left on the floor. He could worry about them later. For now he slipped on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of boxers before stepping back out of the bathroom. He found Dean laying on the bed, just staring blankly at the TV. It wasn't even on. Blue eyes were just settled in on a blank screen. Roman almost asked him why he turned it on but then changed his mind. Instead he walked over to the bed and laid down beside Dean. Neither one of them said a word. Roman waited to see if Dean wanted to be the one to do it. Dean stayed silent. His gaze stayed straight ahead, the look on his face completely troubled. He was thinking about Seth. Again.

Roman barely held back a sigh. He hated the pain that just the thought of Seth could bring. For as happy as Roman knew that Seth used to make Dean, it was hard for him to get past all the stuff Seth said and done over the past year. Maybe he really was having a change of heart, but that still didn't erase the broken trust. It didn't erase watching Dean go through all the pain of losing the one he loved the most and thinking it was because of something he did. That was it more than anything. Roman supposed he could forgive Seth easier if it was just him that had gotten hurt. But Dean...just watching Dean's pain had been worse than his own. And Roman didn't know if he was capable of forgiving Seth for that.

_They didn't say a word the rest of the time at the arena. There was nothing either could think to say. Roman felt like he should. This silence was horrifically oppressing. But every time he tried to open his mouth to speak, the words failed him. What could he even say? Seth had betrayed them. Seth - their Seth - had stabbed them in the back in order to join the Authority. Roman couldn't believe it. He felt like throwing up. He didn't understand why. Not after the wars they had just been through against Evolution. They had won. They had fucking won and yet Seth had screwed them over. He couldn't wrap his mind around it._

_He sat down on the bed closest to the door. Dean was already on the other, staring at the wall blankly. Roman had been too out of it to watch the chair shots Seth had leveled him with, but he had heard them. He had expected Dean to be a ball of fury when they got backstage, but there had been nothing. He had just held on to Roman, helping to get him to the car and into the room. It was frightening. Dean wasn't supposed to be this quiet. He wasn't supposed to look so expressionless. This wasn't right but Roman couldn't fucking fix it._

_"Dean?" He finally had to say something. He couldn't just keep letting them sit there._

_Dean didn't even acknowledge him. He just continued to stare blankly ahead of him._

_"We'll...we'll figure this out. I know...this is...god I know this is hard. But we'll figure out why this happened. We'll get them for this."_

_"No..."_

_Roman froze, not understanding that objection._

_"It's...it's not hard." Dean's breathing began to quicken, each inhale being accompanied by a horrible wheezing sound. "It's worse." The blankness of his face fell and there was still no rage like Roman suspected. Maybe that would come later. All there was now was a crumpled, heart broken look that was followed by sobs Roman NEVER wanted to hear again. The sound of them gutted him from the inside out. This was worse than the shots he had taken. This was worse than losing one friend in Seth. The only friend he had left was completely breaking right before his eyes. "I can't...I can't...he left me." Dean's words were nearly incomprehensible between the sobs and hyperventilating. "He promised me...he promised...Rome..."_

_"Oh god Dean..." Roman got back up, ignoring the pain that coursed through him. He couldn't think of himself. Not now. Not with this. He sat himself down on the other bed and pulled Dean against him, just letting the other man sob against his chest. There was nothing he could say or do to fix this. Seth was gone. Hunter had won._

"I won't take him back if it'll make you hate me."

Dean's words made Roman blink. He looked at the other man, who was finally acknowledging him now. "What?"

"Seth." Dean swallowed hard and fidgeted nervously. "I don't want you to hate me."

"Are you going to take him back then?"

Twitching shoulders shrugged. "I dunno. I haven't decided."

"But you won't if I say no."

Dean shook his head.

Roman sighed helplessly. "What if you still want to even if I do? I'm not exactly looking to have you hate me either."

"I wouldn't...I just...I don't know what to do." Dean kept fidgeting, his hand coming up to rub across his collarbone. "He misses me."

"You believe him?"

"I...I think so." Dean rubbed his hand faster, his eyes shifting now to anywhere but Roman. "Or maybe I just want to. I don't fucking know."

Roman pressed his lips together tightly. He really did want to tell Dean no. He wanted to say don't do it. He wanted to say that it wasn't okay and protect Dean from getting hurt again. But he couldn't do that. That wasn't fair. That wasn't a decision he could just take away from Dean. That wouldn't end well no matter what Dean said now. "I don't like him. I don't trust him. But this can't be my decision."

Dean looked at him again with raised eyebrows. "No?"

"Oh believe me, I want it to be. But I know you better than that." Roman placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Maybe he is actually sorry. But so help me god, if he even look at you the wrong way again, I will fucking kill him."

Dean's lips twitched.

"I'm not joking Dean. I will fucking murder him this time."

"Well thanks. I appreciate it." Dean started to reach for the remote, but Roman's hand staying on his shoulder stopped him. "What?"

"Dolph." Roman leveled Dean with a serious look. "Look, I know how you feel. But I'm pretty sure he's got feelings for you. Or he's starting to get them anyway."

Dean grimaced. "Yeah. I figured that out with the kiss on the Ferris wheel."

"He's a good guy."

"I know."

"He could make you happy if you really let him in."

Dean stayed silent this time. For all of his confusion on the matter of Seth, he was staying consistent with this particular matter.

Roman squeezed Dean's shoulder. "Just...at least break it off with him if you can't give him a real chance. Don't string him along."

"No stringing," Dean agreed. He reached for the remote again and got it this time.

"And let him down gently if you have to."

"I'm not actually good at that shit Rome."

"Well figure it out." Roman snatched the remote out of Dean's hands and turned on the TV. "And I'm picking."

Dean let out a loud, insulted noise. "Why?"

"Because I said so." Roman laid back and started flipping through the channels, swatting away Dean's hand as he tried to steal the remote back.

"Anyone tell you that you're an asshole?"

"I think you did this morning."

"Good. My statement still stands then."


	9. Chapter 9

Dean picked at the scrambled eggs on his plate. He hadn't really wanted them in the first place, but Roman had insisted that he ate something. He hadn't wanted to fight about it so here he was, trying to make himself eat. Roman was up getting his food at the buffet the hotel was offering. The two of them had been the first of the roster to make it down here, but the others were starting to pile in. So far nobody had looked to join them. Dean was grateful for that. He didn't want more company beyond Roman. Not with his head as messed up as it was. He needed to think. He didn't necessarily want to do it, but he had to. He had to figure out what the fuck he was going to do about Seth. His brain was trying to tell him not to trust him. In his experience, if someone did something to hurt him once, they would do it again without question. But even with knowing that, his heart still ached for him. He ached to just forgive him and forget it ever happened. The desire went against his very nature. That wasn't what he did. It was never what he did. But the empty, gnawing feeling his chest was getting to be too much to stand.

He sighed and forced himself to take a few bites. It felt like it took every ounce of energy he had to do so. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Roman sitting down next to him. They hadn't talked a lot this morning. The weight of the previous night's conversation still hovered on them. Dean wanted to apologize. He wanted to say sorry for breaking the way he did when Seth left. He wanted to say sorry for wanting him back so much and not being able to put that aside in consideration for the fact that Seth hurt Roman too. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but they wouldn't come out. They stayed stuck inside him, the guilt making the eggs taste bitter on his tongue.

He dropped his fork on to his plate and ran his hands over his face. He couldn't eat more. He was going to be sick if he did.

"How about some bacon?" Roman, ever the mother hen, tried to shove some of his own bacon towards Dean's mouth. "It's fresh."

Dean shook his head.

"I'll trade you the eggs for my waffle then."

"Oh for fuck's sake Ro." Dean rolled his eyes and glared at his best friend. "I ate some, alright? Don't be pushy."

Roman started to say something in response, but then quickly shut his mouth. His gaze went to straight ahead of them, which made Dean turn his head to look and see what he saw. Dolph had just come in and was looking around the room. Their eyes met, and for a split second Dolph started to smile. But then the gaze lingered and the smile quickly evaporated. He had seen something in Dean's eyes that caused it.

"You want to go over to him?" Roman asked softly.

"Don't gotta." Dean swallowed hard as he watched Dolph start to make his way over. "He's coming this way."

"I'll leave you to it then."

"What? No wait. You sit your ass back - Roman get back here!" Dean tried to grab him and pull him back down, but Roman got away from him. He let out a frustrated sigh, glaring at Roman's retreating form until he heard Dolph pull out the chair across from him. He reluctantly looked at the bleached blonde, swallowing hard at the look on the older man's face. There was sadness, but more than that there was just resignation. "Um...Dolph, listen..."

"You looked absolutely terrified when I walked in," Dolph informed him. "Did you know that?"

Dean frowned. "I did not."

"Kind of did."

"No way." Dean picked the fork back up just so he could do something with at least one hand. "Why would I even look that way?"

"Because you're about to break it off with me."

The matter of fact statement was followed by a long stretch of silence. "How do you -"

"Know?" Dolph leaned forward and rested his elbows against the table while leveling Dean with a hard look. "Come on, I'm not stupid. I knew this was coming. Maybe I didn't want it to, but you know, I can't exactly just get my way here."

Dean fidgeted in his seat. He didn't like these kinds of conversations. He wasn't any good at them at all. Any time he had them he always ended up saying the wrong thing and making matters worse.

"I knew I was a rebound." Dolph kept talking through Dean's silence. "I mean, it was pretty clear from the start. And I mean, I didn't have an issue with that. Not at the time. I liked knowing that I was going to get laid on at least a semi-regular basis again." He tried to laugh a bit, but the sound didn't really come out. "I did fuck up. I started to like you as more than just...and I knew I shouldn't have. You weren't over him. I never had a chance to begin with."

"Jesus Dolph." Dean fidgeted more, unable to control his movements at all. "I know I'm an asshole. You don't really need to like, rub it in or anything."

"I'm not rubbing it in Dean. I'm just...fuck it. I don't know." Dolph did laugh this time, though it sounded pretty bitter. "It just sucks, alright? Knowing that I never had a chance to begin with sucks. Knowing that he won without lifting a finger kind of fucking sucks."

"He didn't fucking win shit," Dean denied. "I haven't even decided if I'm actually taking him back."

Dolph didn't look convinced. "He still won even if you don't. I mean for fuck's sake Dean, you looked happier fighting him last night than you ever have with me. What does that tell you?"

Dean had no answer for him. What the fuck could he even say? There was nothing. The only thing he could do was apologize, but just like before, the words got stuck inside of him. He tried to force them out, but they stayed stuck right on the tip of his tongue. He did feel guilty right now. Even with not returning the feelings Dolph had towards him, he still felt like a tremendous dick at the moment. Dolph hadn't really deserved having to put up with him. He hadn't deserved to be used as a rebound. "Dolph I -"

"Look, it's fine alright?" Dolph spoke again, effectively cutting Dean off. "Let's just forget about it." He stood back up and gestured towards the exit. "I'm gonna go. And I'll uh, see you around."

Dean watched him leave, a heavy sigh escaping him as he did so. "Fuck," he muttered. He looked around, seeing that Roman was nowhere to be seen. "Fuck it." He put the fork down and pushed his plate away. He had to get out of there. Get some air. Maybe it wouldn't stop him from feeling like such an asshole, but at least getting up and moving would give him a little bit of a distraction. And that was something he would more than willingly take at the moment.

* * *

Just like the day before, Seth got to the arena before the other wrestlers did. This time he went straight to the list of matches the agents had posted to the locker room wall. He was facing Dean again, this time in tag team action. He was being made to team with Rusev to take on Dean and Roman. The idea of this match made his heart sink down into the pit of his stomach. He wanted to be around Dean and could deal with Rusev, but Roman was another story. Roman would probably go out of his way to try to murder him right there in front of everyone. It wouldn't be the first time. Over the past year he had ate a number of spears, Superman punches, and even a cinder block being tossed right at his face. What his former tag team partner felt towards him now was perfectly clear. And how to get back on his good side was probably going to be even harder than getting back on to Dean's. Dean missed him and probably still loved him (god he hoped anyway), despite everything that had happened. Roman was just going to give him an even harder time because of it. If Dean wouldn't protect himself then Mama Bear Roman would. And there was no force on earth more dangerous than Mama Bear Roman.

Seth left his stuff in one of the empty rooms before going back out to the parking lot. He wanted to get to Dean and Roman as soon as they got there. What exactly he was going to do or say he really didn't know. Maybe he would just throw himself at their feet and start with more apologies. He had already said some to Dean, but more couldn't hurt. And he owed Roman them too. They probably wouldn't be very well received, but he could try.

He took his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his Twitter timeline as he waited. He was trying to act natural, though he knew people were still staring at him. He did his best to ignore them though. They weren't who he cared about. "Come on," he muttered under his breath as the next car brought Renee and Summer instead of Dean and Roman. "Come on you guys, where are you?"

Another ten minutes went by. Then another ten. Then another twenty. He almost thought about giving up and going inside when a black SUV pulled up. He saw Roman in the driver's seat, though Dean was nowhere to be found. He wilted in disappointment for a moment before shaking it off. Maybe it was better this way. Trying to talk to Roman was probably going to turn into a fight. And if they got in the fight Dean was going to end up in the middle of it. That wasn't what they needed to do to him.

Roman didn't notice him until after he got his bag out from the back of the car and started walking towards the arena. He stopped right in his tracks, gray eyes narrowing in anger. "Walk away Rollins," he growled. "Just walk away."

Every self-preservation instinct Seth had told him to retreat. But he didn't. He stood his ground, swallowing hard and forcing himself to keep his eyes locked on Roman's. "Can we talk?"

"No." Roman started trying to walk right by him. "We can't."

"Roman I'm sorry." Seth stepped in the older man's way, already bracing himself for the blow he knew would eventually come. "I know it don't change anything. Dean and I already had that discussion. I just...I needed him to know. And I need you to know too."

Roman's eyes narrowed angrily. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You're fucking sorry?"

"Yeah."

"You miss him?"

"Yeah?"

Roman dropped his bag. Seth flinched, expecting the blow to come now. But it didn't. Roman just kept staring at him, which was almost worse. The whole waiting to see what he would do or say was awful.

"You were my brother." The words that came out of Roman's mouth were not what Seth expected. "You were family, just as much as my actual blood." His voice was strained; he was struggling to keep his tone low. "I don't want to hear why you did it. It don't really matter to me at this point."

"Roman -"

"No." Roman didn't let him finish. He stepped up to Seth, getting right in his face. "If it was just me it'd be different. I'd be more willing to start forgiving you. But it's not just me. You have no idea how much you hurt him."

"I think I -"

"No. Don't think. You don't have a fucking clue." Roman smacked his hand against Seth's chest, making him stumble back a bit. "We lost you and he nearly lost his mind. I almost didn't get him back." He smacked Seth's chest again. "You think I want to forgive you after that? You think I want him anywhere near you?" He shook his head. "I can't stop him, but I'm watching you. And the moment - the fucking MOMENT - I even THINK you're going to hurt him? I will rip you ass to pieces. You hear me?"

Seth just nodded. He wanted to say that he wouldn't hurt Dean again. He wanted to grovel and beg for some form of forgiveness, but now wasn't the time. Roman was too determined to not believe a single thing that came out of his mouth. So he stayed silent, stepping out of the way as the larger man reclaimed his bag and stormed inside. Once he was gone he let out a long, shaky sigh.

Yeah, he was definitely going to get creamed tonight.

* * *

Dean didn't make it to the arena until the first match had gotten underway. Nobody but Roman and Seth even noticed how late he was. Seth had tried to stop him to talk, but he had just grunted about doing it later. He couldn't deal with that before going out for a match. Especially not when it would be against Seth himself. This time it would be a tag match, with Roman as his partner and Rusev as Seth's. There was no way it would a pretty match in the slightest. Roman would probably try to kill Seth and then Rusev would probably be looking to kill all of them. The brute wasn't exactly known from stopping once he got on a roll of destruction.

Roman didn't give him any shit like he normally would for being late. Instead he stayed quiet, his lips tightly pressed together and his gray eyes troubled. Dean thought about asking what was wrong, but he didn't. Not because he didn't care; he was just fairly certain that he already knew what was bothering him. If Seth had been waiting out in the parking lot the whole time for him, there was an excellent chance that he and Roman had gotten into some kind of confrontation. Seth's face hadn't been pounded in, so couldn't have gotten too ugly. Then again, maybe Roman was just saving it for when he was going to get paid to do it.

They didn't talk strategy before going out there. Coming up with all that stuff had been Seth's thing. Dean and Roman both preferred just going out there and fighting. And fight they did. The moment Roman was over the guardrail they hit the ring, Dean jumping right on Seth and making sure Roman took Rusev. It didn't occur to him to think about the fact that he was protecting Seth from whatever ass kicking Roman wanted to dish out. And he certainly didn't stop to think about the fact that Seth actively avoided tagging in Rusev once his team gained controlled and Dean found himself isolated from Roman. His brain tried to go there, but he pushed the thoughts away. He wouldn't go there. Not now. He wouldn't let himself do it.

"Come on Dean!" Roman was in their corner, nearly climbing right over the ropes in his desperation to get in. "Dean you gotta get out of there! Come to me Dean!"

"What the fuck -" Dean managed to get up to his feet as he delivered a series of elbows to Seth's stomach. "- do you think -" He nailed Rusev in the face for good measure before starting to try to get to his corner "- I'm trying to - OW!" His legs got swept out from under him by Seth, who immediately went for the cover.

"Sorry Dean."

"Fucking hell Seth." Dean kicked out, but immediately got trapped in a chin lock. "Oh come on!"

Seth kept his grip nice and tight, determined to not let Dean go. Dean struggled to get up once again, eventually getting free and nailing Seth with a swinging neckbreaker.

"Come on Dean!" Despite the noise from Rusev, Lana and the crowd, Roman was still the loudest one of them all. "Get over here! Come on come on come on!"

Dean finally managed to get over there and made the tag. Roman nearly trampled him in his rush to get in there and start kicking ass. He practically flew right at Rusev, who had just been tagged in as well. Dean rolled out on the floor, not needing to watch it all as he collected himself. Instead he stayed on the ground, not getting up until he heard the crowd groan loudly. Seth had broken up Roman's pin attempt and was now trying to slug it out with him. It wasn't something that went well for him. Roman hit harder than he did and was able to toss him out of the ring with ease. But the distraction was all Rusev needed. The Bulgarian was up on his feet and Roman turned around just in time to eat a huge kick to the face.

"Shit!" Dean slid into the ring and charged the brute. His fists flew wildly, one hitting Rusev in the nose and busting it open. Rusev roared and a knee to Dean's gut stopped his flurry of punches. Strong hands gripped his shirt and suddenly he was being tossed with an absolute reckless abandon. He landed on his bad shoulder and yelped in pain. Oh fucking hell. Not again. He clutched it tightly, trying to assess the damage. It didn't feel like it had actually dislocated again. It had hurt like a bitch, and another wayward fall would probably do him again, but for now he was okay.

"Rusev!" Lana's shrill voice assaulted his ears. "Rusev no!"

Dean pushed himself up to his knees and looked up. Rusev was coming straight at him with a steel chair aimed at his head.

"Dean!" It wasn't Roman's voice that cried out. It was Seth's. The younger man slipped back into the ring and grabbed the chair out of Rusev's hands. Rusev turned around, only to eat the edge of the chair in his stomach.

"Rollins!" The referee didn't even call for the bell. He was too dumbfounded by what Seth was doing.

Seth didn't pay the ref any mind. Instead he brought the chair down again, smashing it against Rusev's back. Rusev crumpled to the mat and Seth looked up, his eyes looking at Dean's shocked blue ones. Dean was still there on his knees, his hand clutching his sore shoulder. He couldn't think to get up. He was barely even breathing. The last time Seth had stood in front of him with a chair, all he had seen was a cold hatred in his eyes. Time had stood still then as he struggled to process that it had been his Seth who was betraying them. Time was standing still again, though this time it was different. The chair just hung loosely in Seth's hand. The coldness in his eyes was gone. This time they were filled with concern. This time he had saved him.

"Dean..."

That was the only word to make it out of Seth's mouth. Roman came barreling in then, only seeing Seth with the chair in front of Dean. With all the force he could muster, he plowed his shoulder straight into Seth's stomach and delivered the most brutal looking spear of his career.

"ROMAN!" Dean yelled.

"HOLY SHIT!" The referee and the crowd shared the same sentiment.

Seth curled up in the fetal position, too hurt to make a sound.

"What?" Roman turned to Dean, his expression one of pure confusion. "I was helping!"

Dean just smacked a palm to his forehead. "Oh my fucking god..."


	10. Chapter 10

"Jesus fucking christ..." Seth groaned as he placed his hand over his ribs. He was back in the trainer's room, getting looked over because he had so much difficulty really breathing after Roman's spear. His breath was coming back to him now, though he was reluctant to say so. Dean and Roman were both with him, standing a bit of a ways away from him so they could argue between themselves. He had been trying to listen to what they were saying, but his pain kept distracting him. At least he could take comfort in the fact that they were there. And Dean wasn't happy that he was hurt. He was trying to act like he didn't care too much, but as hard as he tried to hide it, the concern was still clearly there. Seth didn't want to make it go away by admitting that the pain was starting to lessen.

"How was I supposed to know he saved you?" Roman just shrugged helplessly against the look Dean was giving him. "Come on man, give me a break. I saw him near you with a chair. Can you really blame me for what I thought?"

"I'm not saying I blame you," Dean argued. "I just don't see how total annihilation was the appropriate answer."

"Appropriate answer?  _Appropriate answer_?" Roman looked at him in utter disbelief. "Who are you and what have you done with my Dean?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up."

"No really."

"I said shut up."

Seth watched as Roman reached over and ruffled Dean's hair. Dean tried to look annoyed as he slapped his hand away, but Seth still saw him fighting back a grin. Oh how times had changed. He remembered the months he had to go around and try to keep himself in between them because they couldn't get along. But now the brotherhood he had desperately wanted them to find before was there.

"I don't think anything's broken." The trainer's voice brought all eyes on him. "But I'm going to recommend you take it easy for a day or two."

Seth snorted. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen." Once the trainer had stepped back he got up, wincing as he did so. "I'll be fine doc. Don't be telling them I can't compete."

Dean rolled his eyes. "And they call me stubborn."

That muttered statement was not lost on Seth or Roman. "You are stubborn," Roman reminded him.

"I've never met anybody more stubborn," Seth added.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Name one time that I -"

"Remember when you flooded the basement of our old apartment building because you wouldn't ask anyone how to work the washing machine?"

Dean immediately shut up while Roman smirked. Seth grinned, not only because he had won the argument with a slam dunk, but because in that moment, it felt just like old times again. It felt like he had never made the decision to leave them at all. And god how he wished he hadn't. The regret over having done so hit him in full force once again.

"Whatever." Dean huffed out the word as his lip jutted out in a pout. "Fuck you guys." He started to turn around to leave. "I don't need this shit."

Seth reached out and grabbed his wrist, making him stop and turn back around. The move earned a glare from Roman, but Seth tried to just ignore that for now. He kept his eyes locked on Dean, who was looking at him in confusion. "Can we um...go somewhere?" He swallowed nervously, his voice wavering now. "Just to um...I don't know...talk?"

Dean eyed him warily before looking to Roman. Seth kept his eyes locked on his ex, not wanting to see Roman shake his head in a bid to tell him not to do it. Seconds dragged by like hours and he tried to ready himself for the rejection.

"Get us a room and text me where it's at." Dean's words surprised them all. "I'll meet you there."

Seth's eyes widened and now he finally did look at Roman. The older man didn't look thrilled by Dean's decision, but he clearly recognized that he wasn't going to talk Dean out of it. "Call me if you need me," he said while shooting Seth a death glare.

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm a big boy Ro-Ro. I can take care of myself."

Roman made a face. "Don't call me that shit."

"Ro-Ro? But it's fun!"

"Dean I swear to god."

"Ro-Ro are you mad?"

"I'm gonna punch you."

Dean snickered and motioned for Seth to follow him. "I'm picking where we go," he informed him. "Just so you know."

Seth just nodded. Arguing with that statement had never worked before, and it damn sure wouldn't work now. But at least they were going, so he was happy over that. Any small victory was a big one in his book.

* * *

In his bid to push Seth's buttons just to see what would happen, Dean chose the greasiest, most questionable looking diner he could find for them to eat at. He watched as Seth wrinkled his nose in disgust, though no actual objection came. Instead he kept his mouth shut, electing to just drink a diet Coke while Dean ordered a burger and fries to go with his drink. Very few people occupied the building with them. There was their waitress, a middle aged brunette with tattoos peeking out from her uniform. A cook they could hear cursing all the way back from the kitchen. An older looking black man that had a rather shiny bald head. A couple of teenagers who looked like they were runaways. Dean took a moment to watch them in particular. That had been him once. When he had been fifteen he had taken off, unable to cope with the things that had been going on at home. His mother's drug habit had gone completely out of control while her boyfriend at the time had been dangerously violent. He had hated Dean to the point of trying to strangle him one night in a drunken rage. He had managed to escape and stayed out on the streets for a couple of months before getting caught by police and being forced to go back home. By that time that boyfriend was gone. Bastard had gotten shot by one of his other whores, meaning his mom had moved on to another. That guy wasn't great either, but he had just been a junkie with all bark and no bite. That was something Dean could handle.

"Think they'll make it?" Seth had turned to see what Dean was looking at. He knew what Dean was thinking about. He knew his past. He was the only one Dean had really talked to about it. Roman knew some, but Dean never liked to get into details about it with him. Sharing them with Seth had been hard enough as it was.

"I dunno." Dean looked away from them and turned his attention back to his own table. He grabbed the little basket that held the little packets of sugar and started to play with it. "If they already got a drug habit I'll say no."

"You got past yours."

"But they're more likely to be sticking needles in their arm instead of just trying to snort their weight in cocaine." Dean grabbed one of the sugar packets and rubbed it between his fingers. "Getting off that is fucking dangerous as shit. Mom tried to once. It nearly killed her." He let out a short, bitter laugh. "Course she was still dead before forty, but you know, whatever."

Seth shifted around uncomfortably. He was sitting across from Dean in their booth, and it looked like he wanted to reach over the table and grab his hand. Once upon a time he would have done it without hesitation. But now he didn't. He didn't know if that was okay. Hell, Dean didn't even know if that would be okay with him. He had missed Seth, but they couldn't just jump back to how they were and pretend nothing had happened. He wasn't putting himself that much out there.

"You didn't bring me here to talk about that shit dude." Dean finally decided to just move the conversation along himself.

"Technically speaking, I didn't bring you here. You brought me." Seth eyed their surroundings warily. "I guess this means if we like, die in here or whatever it's your fault and not mine."

"We're not gonna fucking die in here."

"You really don't got me convinced dude."

"Well you're just a fucking baby." Dean dropped the sugar packet and pushed the little basket away. "We'll be fine."

Seth still didn't look convinced, but didn't argue. "I just um...I didn't really plan out what I was going to say."

"You didn't plan something?" Dean put a hand over his chest. "Be still my fucking heart."

Seth rolled his eyes. "I honestly didn't think you'd even say yes."

"Probably shouldn't have. But you know, it's whatever. You can't do anything worse than what you've already done."

"Dean I'm -"

"Don't. Stop apologizing. I'm not good with that shit and I get the point." Dean grabbed on to his glass of soda but didn't actually move to drink it. He just needed something to do with his hand. "You're sorry and you miss me. You don't got to beat it into my head so much."

"Do you believe me?"

"I guess I do. Or I just want to. I don't know fucking know." Dean let out a long sigh and looked around. He was really hoping his food would come soon.

Seth leaned forward and let his elbows rest on the table. "You gonna tell Dolph you came here with me?"

Dean shrugged. "He broke it off with me so I don't actually have to tell him shit."

Seth frowned in confusion. "He did what?"

"Dumped me. He figured I was gonna do it anyway so he uh, did it first." Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I respect it. I've been there and done that. I'm not actually like, good at it, but it's better to do it than have it done to you. Hurts a little less."

"Right." Seth shifted his gaze around, contemplating what to say next. He was being careful with his words in an attempt to not fuck it up. "Why were you um, gonna dump him?"

Dean was spared from answering by the arrival of his food. He started shoveling it into his mouth, hoping by the time that he was done he could avoid answering this question once again. He didn't want to tell Seth that it was ultimately because of him. Even if he just said it was because he and Dolph wanted different things, Dean ultimately didn't want to give those things to Dolph because of Seth.

"I hope nobody spit in that or anything." Seth eyed the food like it had been poisoned.

"Why would they spit in it?"

"I don't know. This place is kind of sketchy. Food's probably bound to be poisoned or spat in."

"Well, given the fact that I've had my tongue in an ass before, a little spit isn't something I'm too worried about."

Seth just stared at him, unable to come up with a response to that one. Dean nodded in satisfaction and ate the rest of his meal in silence. The food wasn't really all that bad. As far as questionable late night diners went, this one was one of the better ones.

When he was done Seth grabbed the bill and paid before he could do it. He rolled his eyes and muttered about how he could have gotten it. The comment went completely ignored. Instead Seth directed him out of the diner, his eyes nervously glancing at Dean every two seconds. The wheels were turning inside his head. Dean knew it. He didn't say anything about it though. He kept his silence, shoving his hands into his pockets to make sure he still had the car keys in his left one. He was absolutely terrible at keeping track of shit like that. Roman rarely ever let him drive when they traveled together for that very reason.

"Dean?" Seth wasn't even trying to walk over to the passenger's side of the car. He had followed Dean to the driver's side door, looking more nervous than ever.

"What?" Dean turned around to face him. The keys were out of his pocket now and gripped tightly in his hand.

Seth just stared at him for a moment, at war with what he wanted to do. Dean opened his mouth to say "what" again, not having the patience to just wait. Before the word could escape him though, Seth's hands grabbed his face and his mouth was suddenly on his in a desperate, needy kiss. Dean's eyes widened, but he didn't push Seth away. His hands gripped the front of Seth's shirt instead, fingers twisting at black, cotton material. He felt himself being pushed back first against the car door, the weight of Seth's body keeping him trapped there. His lips were moving, returning the kiss with equal intensity. He didn't know if this was a good idea. It probably wasn't. But it was too hard to care. Being wrapped up in Seth's kiss was making everything that had happened over the past year just melt away. None of it mattered in that moment. It wasn't thinking that would last, but for the moment he wanted to enjoy it.

The kiss somehow seemed to last forever, yet didn't last long enough at the same time. Dean's vision began to fade, the lack of oxygen pushing him to the verge of passing out. They finally broke apart, Dean taking more time to gasp for breath than Seth did. Seth's lips pressed a kiss against his forehead, letting it linger there for a long moment before pulling back.

"Well holy shit." Dean didn't know what else to say. He just had to break the silence somehow.

Seth let out a short laugh, a small smile crossing his face. "Yeah," he agreed. "Holy shit."

* * *

"What are we?" The question Seth hadn't had the courage to ask after the kiss came out once they had pulled into the hotel parking lot. He was sitting in the passenger's seat, his fingers picking nervously at his pants. It was a nervous habit Dean usually did, and one he wasn't fully aware that he was mimicking.

"What?" Dean had taken the keys out of the ignition and had just been about to get out of the vehicle.

Seth swallowed hard, knowing he couldn't take the question back now. "What are we? Like are we um...together or..." His voice trailed off and he just shrugged his shoulders, feeling totally stupid at the moment.

"Oh christ." Dean took his hand off the door and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How the fuck am I supposed to know?"

"Well I just like, figured it needed to be your decision. Because of what I did."

Dean was silent for a long time. His hand dropped away from his face, his fingers picking at his jeans now too. Seth bit down on his lower lip as he waited for an answer. "I don't know," Dean finally said. "I really don't know." He tilted his head back so it was resting against his seat. "I miss you. I fucking hate admitting that, but I do. But that shit you did wasn't okay. You fucking abandoned me when you swore you wouldn't. You told the whole world I was fucking nothing to you. I was just some bipolar headcase you decided to use for your own means."

"And that wasn't true. That never was true. I only said that to fuck with you because I was a selfish asshole like that."

"That's not making me feel better."

"Dean I'm sorry!" Seth unbuckled his seatbelt, not wanting to be restrained in case he needed to stop Dean from getting out of the car. "What do you want me to do? Do you want me to give you a chair so you can beat me with it? Do you want me to get on my knees and beg you for forgiveness? Just tell me what you want."

"I don't fucking know what I want!" Dean snapped. He glared at Seth, looking ready to deck him right then and there. "I can't fucking decide. I miss you. I know that much. It fucking sucks not having you around. But what am I supposed to do if you fuck me over again? How am I supposed to know you're not gonna decide that I'm not worth it again and leave me?"

"I wouldn't."

"And why should I believe you? Maybe you miss me  _now_  and maybe you want me back  _now_ , but how am I supposed to just like...we can't just go back to being us again. Not right now." Dean swallowed hard and looked away. "I just...I don't know." He laughed bitterly and rubbed his hands over his face. "I think I need time."

Seth just nodded. That was a fair thing to be asked for. Just missing each other or wanting to be back together wasn't enough. Not with the seeds of mistrust that Dean still obviously felt towards him. That trust had to be earned once more. He couldn't push Dean too fast. Dean would either end up rejecting him outright for it, or he would give in and then the lack of trust would destroy them from the inside out.

"We should um...go in or whatever." Dean grabbed the door handle and opened his door. "Roman's waiting for me."

"Yeah. Right." Seth let out a long breath before getting out of the car. Dean went out too, using the button on the keys to pop the trunk so they could get their bags. "He's not um, gonna be waiting for me with a gun is he?"

"Of course not." Dean grabbed Seth's bag and handed it to him. "It's not like he could have gotten one while we were gone."

"...I know you're right and all, but that isn't really comforting." Seth watched Dean grab his own bag and shut the trunk. "So I guess uh, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Nah." Dean put his bag over his shoulder and smirked. "I'm thinking I'll skip out on Raw. Go sit in a jacuzzi somewhere. Polish my title."

Seth snorted.

Dean looked insulted. "What? You don't think I'd do that?"

"You hate jacuzzis and I was the one who polished your belt when you were US champ. So yeah, I'm calling bullshit on your plan."

"Well fuck, then I guess I gotta go to Raw." Dean sighed and started to head into the hotel. "I'll warn ya if Roman actually did get his hands on a gun or something. Figure I can at least give ya chance to run for it."

Seth's lips twitched. "You're not even going to make me sweat it?"

"Well if I decide to forgive you I can't have him killing you. I can't fuck you if you're dead. I'm not into the whole necrophilia thing."

Much like the tongue in the ass statement from earlier, Seth found himself stunned into complete silence. It wasn't until Dean was inside the building he managed to actually come up with any words that seemed fitting. "Well thank fucking god for that." He shook his head and let out a short laugh before going inside as well.


	11. Chapter 11

"So that's it? You guys are done?"

Paige's question made Dolph take his eyes off of the TV in front of them. They were at the gym by the arena, working in a quick workout before they went to the building to get ready for Raw. They were the only two from the roster currently there. AJ had refused to go, Natalya and Tyson had already left, and Jimmy and Naomi were still supposed to meet them there. Whether they would actually show up was another matter. They had a tendency to run late and had missed other gym sessions before because of it.

"Dolph?" Paige spoke again when Dolph didn't actually answer her.

"Yeah." Dolph put down his weights and sighed. "We're done." He snagged the water bottle near his feet so he could take a long drink. "I ended it."

"You didn't want to fight for him?" Paige sat down next to him, her hand acting like it would come to rest on his shoulder before she just dropped it back down instead.

"There was nothing to fight for. He doesn't like me how I like him and he don't want to." Dolph took another drink of water, wishing they could be off the subject already. It was all done. It had never been meant to last. He was better off just moving on.

"Shit." Paige chewed on her lower lip, clearly uncertain on what to say next. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me too." Dolph glanced around, nodding to Cesaro as he came in.

Paige finally did put her hand on his shoulder, though she still clearly felt awkward about it. The whole comforting people not named AJ wasn't her specialty. "Is he um, back with Seth?"

Dolph just shrugged. He didn't know the answer to that question. He knew that was what Dean wanted, whether he actually admitted it or not. That much was clear to him. But as to their current state, he couldn't say. He didn't even want to know.

"You want to go?" Paige took her hand off his shoulder and stood up. "We could go get some coffee or something before going to the arena."

Dolph just nodded before standing up as well. He no longer had any real motivation to work out, and going to the arena didn't sound all that appealing.

They went to the separate locker rooms, getting changed and meeting up by the car. Paige had the keys, which meant they would potentially die on the way to getting that coffee. She was a horrifically unsafe driver. The fact that AJ was actually more calm and collected behind a wheel of a car was frightening. "You know what we should do?" she said as they got into the vehicle.

Dolph was almost afraid to find out. "What?"

"Hook you up with a cute barista." Paige looked extremely proud of herself for that idea.

"A cute barista?"

"Yeah! It'll be fun."

Dolph did mull the idea over for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. I think I'm good."

Paige frowned. "I just don't want you moping over him." She put the keys in the ignition and started the car up. "I mean I like him and all, but it's kind of fucked up how he really didn't give you a chance. You should just say fuck it and move on." She took a quick look around to make sure she could back out of their parking space safely before doing it. "We could set you up with someone else on the roster. Roman's pretty hot."

Dolph raised his eyebrows. "I break up with Dean and you want me to then move on to his best friend? You don't think that's gonna be a little awkward?"

"Okay, fair point. There's uh...Neville. You could get back with Summer. Emma is wonderful. Cesaro's pretty hot. Fandango was looking at people to join him in his van."

"I think I'll avoid Fandango's van." Dolph could say that with great certainty. "Look, I appreciate what you're doing, but I'll be fine. I don't need you or AJ or anyone else to play matchmaker."

Paige sighed in what was probably only temporary defeat. "Fine. But I'm mad at Dean."

"Alright. You be mad at Dean."

"And I'm not gonna be nice to Seth if he hangs out with us now."

"Were you even nice to him before he turned on the Shield? I don't remember you ever liking him."

"Well no, I didn't. I could smell the fact that he was a little bitch from a mile away."

Dolph just shook his head. AJ had told him that Paige and Seth just didn't mix well together, but he hadn't been close to any of the former Shield members before the betrayal to really know about it first hand. Things clearly hadn't changed on her front, and if he hadn't been the cause of him and Dean not working out, Dolph might have felt sorry for the hornet's nest Seth would eventually walk into.  _Oh well..._

* * *

Dean taped his hands up slowly, humming lowly under his breath. He and Roman were in their locker room, the two of them already getting changed for the night. Roman had to take on Bray, who had apparently injured Orton at the other house show that had taken place last night. The match had been the main event and had gotten stopped when Bray had just refused to stop beating on the prone and injured Orton. Dean knew Roman could handle himself, but that still didn't stop him from feeling nervous about the match. It would be something he would be watching very, vey carefully. Wyatt could get away with hurting Orton like that, but he would be damned if Roman somehow came close to meeting the same fate.

"Don't try to brawl with Rusev, alright?" While Dean was finding himself more concerned over Roman's match with Bray, Roman hadn't shut up about Dean's scheduled match with Rusev. "You're a better wrestler than he is. You gotta stick and move. Don't give him any opportunities because you might not get them back."

"You act like I've never wrestled him before." Dean finished taping up his hands and inspected them. They looked good. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times. The tape was tight, but not too much so. "I know what I'm doing."

"I didn't say you didn't."

"Then why are you up my ass right now?"

Roman just shrugged as he adjusted his vest. "I just figured you were going to be distracted. You know, considering everything that's been going on."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Look, if you're gonna passively aggressively nag at me about Seth, then just don't."

"I'm not doing that. I just don't think you're gonna be focused." He stood up off the bench and folded his arms over his chest. "You've spent this whole morning making heart eyes at your phone. I know he's the one texting you."

"I am NOT making heart eyes." The denial came out way too defensive to be remotely believable. Dean knew it immediately and had to wince. He wasn't going to live it down.

"Dean come on. I know you. If you're back together with him -"

"We're not."

"I'm not saying I'd be happy, but you can tell me."

"But we're not!" Dean stood up and started pacing back and forth. "I mean, he kissed me. And that was fine. We did that shit when we were trying to kill each other back in FCW. But like, he asked me that same shit. And I told him no. We're not back together." Dean stopped moving so he could glare at Roman. "I'm not fucking stupid Roman. I love him. I do. I never stopped loving him even though I should have. But that don't fucking mean I trust him." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I know this might bite me in the ass. He might fuck me over again the next time he gets another raging insecurity boner. But clearly I'm not doing well with the whole moving on from him thing. It just...I'm tired of it hurting. It fucking hurts without him."

"Dean..."

"It's stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid." Roman reached out and put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "I got your back, alright? No matter what."

Dean smiled weakly. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Roman leaned forward and knocked their foreheads together. They stayed like that for a moment before Roman let him go and took a step back. "You wanna go hit catering?"

Dean grinned at the suggestion. "I think I heard Cameron saying they had cheesecake today."

Roman's eyes widened. "They had cheesecake this entire time and you didn't say anything? The hell man? I thought we were friends!"

Dean rolled his eyes. "You take this cheesecake thing entirely too seriously."

"And you don't take it seriously enough." Roman grabbed Dean by the arm and pulled him along. "Come on. Let's go eat."

* * *

Seth slouched down in his seat and propped his feet up on the seat in front of him. He was up in the stands, watching everything that was happening on the arena floor. The crew members were setting up the stage and getting all the electrical and pyro stuff ready. The ring was already set up, and Naomi, Jimmy, Jey and Neville were all down there wrestling around with each other. Jimmy and Jey had been working on some new double team moves and now Neville was helping Naomi perfect the art of a 450 splash. Jey was getting to be the recipient of that, despite his very loud protests on the subject. Jimmy was openly laughing at him, and Seth found himself smiling at the whole situation. The Usos had always been a riot to be around. Once he had met them, it had been easy to understand why they had been Roman's favorite cousins.

Seth's smile faded a bit. Roman's family had pretty much adopted Dean as one of their own, and had been much more happy and accepting of their relationship than his own family had been. They had spent holidays with them, had gone on vacations with them - Roman's mother had even offered to help pay for a wedding that she thought would sure come. And that hadn't happened. He had instead sold out and had gone out of his way to make life for her family as hard as he possibly could. Dean, Roman, Jimmy, Jey, Naomi - none of them had been a friend to the Authority. They had stood up to Hunter and Stephanie, whether it be on-screen or behind the scenes. And all of them had paid for it in some way or the other. Naomi had been kept off TV for confronting Seth and Randy in catering one day. Stephanie had encouraged Stardust and Goldust to take their turn to the dark side in their battles against the Usos just because they clearly sided with Roman and Dean. Being vindictive assholes had been their specialty, and he had helped them do it. He had acted like a spoiled brat who was above everyone else. If someone didn't dislike him now because of what he did to Dean, his attitude and actions when he had been Stephanie and Hunter's pride and joy had done it.

"Hey."

Seth nearly jumped out of his seat at the sound of the small voice. He looked over and saw AJ sitting down next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just felt like sitting here." She clapped her hands against her thighs and looked down towards the ring. "It helps me clear my head."

That was probably normally true, but if she wanted to clear her head, there were plenty of other empty seats for her to go sit in. She definitely wanted something from him. But what? Did she want to talk? Did she want him to make nice? Did she want to try to push him down a flight of stairs at some point? With AJ there was a multitude of possibilities. And honestly, he didn't feel like trying to figure out which one it was.

"Remember when we had that tag match before Raw? The one right before Mania?" AJ turned to look at him again, a small smile crossing her face. "And you all bet that we couldn't beat you guys?"

Seth chuckled softly. "Yeah. I do."

_"What I want is a good, clean fight." Jey stood in the middle of the ring, glaring back and forth at everyone. To his right were AJ, Naomi, Brie and Tamina while Seth, Dean, Roman and Jimmy were to the left. Cody, Goldust, Nikki and Bryan were standing at ringside, playing the audience for this challenge. "No hair pulling, no boob grabbing, no crotch shots - shenanigans are frowned upon. You understand?"_

_"Yeah yeah yeah." Seth waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever." He pointed his finger at the girls. "Just remember you're buying the beers when you lose."_

_"Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen." AJ put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You'll be buying us beers buddy."_

_"In your dreams." Seth looked at Dean for backup. "We got this."_

_"We - oh don't you dare!"_

_Seth started to turn his head to see what Dean was getting upset about. That turned out to be a mistake. Tamina's foot caught him square in the mouth in what was probably the hardest superkick he had taken in his life._

_"JESUS!" Roman and Jimmy yelled._

_"Woman I said clean fight!" Jey threw his hands up in exasperation. "I - Dean!"_

_Dean jumped on Tamina, resulting in the other girls jumping on him. Roman and Jimmy quickly joined the fray, leaving Seth to clutch his bleeding mouth and wonder what the hell just happened._

"That shit wasn't funny. I thought she knocked out my teeth." Seth brought his hand up to his mouth and self-consciously checked those teeth. He knew they were fine, but his mouth still automatically hurt from the mere memory. "God that sucked ass."

AJ had the nerve to laugh at him. "At least you didn't lose the match. Jimmy tapping to my Black Widow did that one."

"Thank god for small favors." Seth took a moment to watch Naomi hit another 450 splash on Jey before speaking again. "Just don't plan on winning if we ever do a rematch again."

"Guys won last time actually," she informed him. "Dean cheated by holding Paige's tights. I still don't think she's forgiven him for it."

Seth felt himself falter. She hadn't said the words with any malice, but they still hit him hard. All he had been thinking about lately was his regret about leaving Dean. And that was still what he hated himself the most for. But new regret was blossoming from the back of his mind. Giving up Roman, his family, his friends - he had been such a fool.

"Look, I've been in Dean's position." AJ's tone was a lot more serious now. "I've had my heart ripped out of my chest and stomped on by the one I cared about most."

"You don't got to guilt trip me you know. I feel like a big enough asshole as it is."

She rolled her eyes. "Just listen to me, alright? I'm not done yet." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I was on the whole killing you parade, but then I saw how much Dean really did miss you. And upon thinking about it more, I realized that I've been you before. I hurt Kaitlyn - who had tried so hard to save me from myself - for my own selfish gain. I played her so hard just to take a title from her. I convinced myself that she deserved it. I lied to myself and made myself think she abandoned me. And you know what?"

"What?"

"After it was all said and done, she chose to forgive me." AJ smiled at the words. "And I know what that meant to me. And it made me into a better person than I was before." She let him process that for a moment before continuing on. "If you and Dean can get pass what you did, then be the person you should have been to begin with. Get your happy ending. Give Dean the one he deserves." She cast a look down at the others. "They might still give you shit, but they'll eventually come around." She frowned a bit. "Except for Paige. She's never liked you for some reason."

"Yeah..."

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "You ever just have people you want to punch in the face for no reason?"

"Yeah."

"That's her with me. I never actually had a problem with her. Not until you know, she started it."

"Oh god." AJ let go of his hand and stood up. "She'll kill me for having this conversation with you then."

"I won't tell her if you won't," he offered.

"Good idea." She started to walk away but then stopped. "Seth?"

"Yeah?"

"Come with us to have drinks after Raw."

He frowned. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but we might as well get the first horribly awkward moment where you tag along like old times out of the way." She shoved her hands into her pockets and smiled sweetly. "Oh, and so you know, I'll bite your face off if you hurt him again."

Seth had known that one was coming and gave her the thumbs up. "Awkward tag alongs and face biting. Gotcha."

"Good boy."


	12. Chapter 12

_"Oh my god, who even picked this booth? This was the dumbest idea ever."_

_Dean would have normally laughed at Seth's over dramatic complaint, but given how many of them were squished together, he was inclined to agree. He had Seth in his lap while Jimmy and Jey were bunched in next to him with Naomi and AJ placed on their laps. The other side of the booth was the same way. Roman, Cesaro and Tamina actually sat in the booth while Cody, Cameron and Kofi were on their laps. There was absolutely no breathing room to speak of. What made it worse for him was the fact that he and Seth had somehow gotten trapped up against the wall. He couldn't even begin to think about trying to slip away. It was starting to become a bit too much already. The only reason he hadn't lost it already was because Seth was continuously squeezing his hand._

_"If we didn't take this booth we would have had to wait for a half hour," AJ said defensively. "All of you were bitching about how hungry you were. This was the best I could do for us."_

_"How are we even supposed to eat?" Now that Seth had started the bitching parade, Cody was going to jump right in._

_"It's fine." Roman of course was stepping in to try to keep the peace. "We can manage."_

_"We got a bigger problem anyway," Jey announced._

_Kofi frowned. "Did Steph find out I put that stink bomb in her office?"_

_"...That was YOU?" Dean would have reached over the table to smack him if he could have managed. "That bitch screamed at me like I did it!" He grabbed the pepper shaker and chucked it right at Kofi's head._

_"OW!"_

_"Dean!" Seth and Roman said in exasperation._

_"Fucking eat my ass Kingston."_

_"Annnnnd now we've offended the families." Cesaro put up his hand and gave the said families an apologetic wave. "We're terrible people."_

_"Can we focus on my problem here?" Jey glared at them. "Just for one minute?"_

_"What is it bro?" Jimmy gave him the courtesy of asking._

_"AJ's got a bony ass and it's hurting my legs."_

_"What?" AJ turned herself around as much as she could to glare at him. "I don't have a bony ass!"_

_"Uh, yeah you do," Jey insisted._

_"No I don't!"_

_"Do."_

_"Don't!"_

_"Do!"_

_"Don't!"_

_"Guys..." Tamina tried to make her growl a warning, but neither party was listening._

_"You have a bony ass and that's final!"_

_"Oh yeah?" AJ started elbowing Jey in the stomach. "I'll show ya something really bony then."_

_"Don't take that man." Dean shook his head as Jey yelped in pain. "Punch her in the tits."_

_"What tits?" Seth spoke before actually thinking of whether that was a good idea or not._

_"You know what Rollins?" AJ snarled and tried to lunge at him now. "Fuck you!"_

_"Hey hey hey!" Naomi yelled as she and Jimmy tried to somehow stay out of AJ's way. "Watch it Tiny!"_

_"Yeah!" Jimmy agreed. "We don't wanna die because Seth's an idiot!"_

_Seth winced and clung to Dean for dear life. "Save me."_

_"And fight AJ?" Dean eyed the tiny enraged woman and shook his head. "I don't know man..."_

_"Dean!"_

_"Your ass is grass Rollins!" AJ was on the table now and was about to start clawing his eyes out._

"AJ! I can't believe you right now!"

Dean blinked, Paige's voice bringing him back to reality. They were back at the same bar and grill, though thankfully they were able to push some tables together rather than having to squeeze into a booth. He, Seth, Roman and Paige and AJ's empty chairs sat on one side while Dolph, Jimmy, Jey, Naomi and Neville sat on the other side. AJ had told nobody she was inviting Seth; she just showed up with him and directed his ass in the seat that was between hers and Dean's. They had all been surprised, though Dean was the only one who was pleasantly so. Roman had at least kept his expression neutral. It had only been for Dean's sake, but still he did it. The others hadn't bothered to do so. They ranged from confused and suspicious (Naomi and the Usos), uncomfortable (Neville), annoyed (Dolph) and positively nuclear (Paige). Dean grabbed his Jack and Coke and took a long drink of it. They were going to need a lot of booze to get through this in one piece.

"What's so hard to believe?" AJ folded her arms over her chest and gave Paige a defiant look. Paige had dragged her off a few feet away in an attempt to have this conversation in private. It wasn't really working. Both were talking far too loud for it. "I felt like having Seth here so I invited him."

"But why?" Paige was right in AJ's face, making the entire table tense up. Screaming matches were as far as anyone had actually seen them fight once they started dating outside the ring, though nobody had actually forgotten how crazy some of their scuffles used to get. Both had the temperment to claw out someone's eyes if they got past a certain point. "It's SETH!"

"And? Dean wants him here."

"Did you ask Dean?"

"I don't need to ask Dean. He always wants Seth around."

Paige glared at Dean, who made a point to quickly start looking at his menu again. This wasn't something he wanted to be dragged in. "Yeah well, the rest of us don't."

"Well I wasn't asking for a vote." AJ tried to come back to the table, but Paige grabbing her arm stopped her. "Hey!"

"Get rid of him," Paige hissed. "Now."

"No."

Seth rubbed his temples and let out a sigh. He was clearly regretting letting AJ talk him into coming.

"The hell did you even do to her?" Neville finally had to ask.

"She's always just hated him." Dean found himself answering the question before Seth could. It was the truth. He and Seth had both still been in developmental when Paige had arrived. Something about Seth had bothered her from day one, and neither one of them could figure out just what it was. He didn't even think she knew. Hating Seth was just one of her things.

"It's kind of funny actually." Roman decided to join in on the conversation. "When he was still down in NXT with her she would like, put itching powder in his trunks and stuff."

"Yet I was the bad guy when I got her back by putting snakes in her bags." Seth shook his head and grabbed one of the menus that was sitting on the table. "That logic was fucked up."

"Nah man." Dean had to disagree with him there. "Snakes are fucking nasty. You're a sick bastard for doing that."

"You're gonna defend the woman who put the spiders in my bag and had them get all over you?"

Dean froze. He had completely blocked out that horrifying little incident. Paige had gotten tarantulas from some friend of hers and put them in Seth's bag as revenge for the whole snake thing. The intention had been to traumatize Seth, but Dean had been the one to open the bag. The scream that had come out of him had scared the entire locker room. By the time Seth had gotten to him, he had been in such a panicked state that he had been kept off the show that night. Paige had apologized a hundred times to him, but it was still about two months before he actually talked to her again.

"That's great." Roman put his hand on Dean's shoulder to give it a comforting squeeze while he glared at Seth. "You brought that up and traumatized him all over again."

"He's staying!" Dean ignored Roman's words in favor of breaking the news to Paige. It occurred to him that he had never properly gotten her back for that stunt. He figured making her sit with Seth for awhile would be a suitable form of revenge. "Now come sit your ass down!"

AJ gave Paige a smug look before happily sitting back down. Paige glared at Dean for a moment before looking at Dolph. Everyone watched the look they shared. Dean thought the both of them would get up and just leave. But before either could make a move, the waitress finally came over to them.

"Are you guys ready to order?" She smiled at them, too dumb to notice the tension that was boiling over.

Paige muttered obscenities under her breath before returning to her seat. They all ordered, everyone just taking a quick look at the menu and saying whatever it was that caught their eye. Once the waitress went to go put in their orders, they were left to sit in an awkward silence. Dean fidgeted constantly, his teeth chewing away at his lower lip. He kept looking at Roman, hoping he would step in and break the silence. That didn't happen though. He was too busy fiddling with some game on his phone.

"So." Jimmy clapped his hands together, biting the bullet to finally break the silence. "Cena's doing an open challenge tomorrow. I'm thinking of answering and then making you all suck my star spangled dick after I win."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Is there any way that I can make things not weird between us and pass?"

"...Okay yeah, you don't get to suck it." Jimmy pointed to Jey next. "Or you. You stay away."

Jey rolled his eyes. "First off, I wasn't planning on going near it. Second of all, you ain't answering that challenge. I'm gonna answer it and be US champ."

"Hell no."

"Hell yeah."

"What about me?" Roman raised a hand. "I like punching Cena in the face.

"You got a fucking belt though," Dean pointed out. "Fucking keep that one you greedy fuck."

Roman elbowed him in the ribs. "How about I fight you for your title?"

"Only if yours is on the line too."

"Loser buys the beers?"

"Start getting your wallet ready mother fucker."

"Oh come on. You wouldn't beat me."

"Sure I would." Dean turned to look at Seth for support. "I'd beat him right?"

"Oh don't fucking ask him!" Roman groaned in exasperation. "He's fucking sucking up to you! Of course he'll say yes!"

Seth's lips twitched, and he pointedly did not deny that he would in fact be that biased.

"What about you Seth?" Dolph leaned forward to get a better look at him.

Seth raised his eyebrows. "What about me?"

"Don't you want in on this whole championship thing?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. Dolph's casual tone was laced with something Dean couldn't quite place. Whatever it was though, he knew he didn't like it.

"Yeah." Paige peered around AJ so she could jump in on this conversation. "Isn't that what you really care about? Not friends or partners or -"

"Paige," AJ cut her off sharply.

"What?" Paige didn't put too much effort into trying to sound innocent. "I was just asking a question. I'm just a little bit confused on how he could give up everything for a little bit of glory, and then come crawling back when it didn't quite work out for him. It just kind of boggles my mind."

"Yeah really," Dolph agreed.

"We used to kick the living shit out of pretty much all of you on a nightly basis." Dean jumped in before Seth could say anything. He knew by the way the younger man had tensed up next to him that nothing good would come out of his mouth if he started to speak now. In general he could keep a more level head than Dean, but god help them all when he lost it. "Remember that? Yet we're all not still fucking harping on it."

"Ryback is," Roman piped in.

Dean's eyes narrowed. That was not a helpful comment. "Well is Ryback here right now?"

"...No."

"Then he don't count."

"Hey man, don't think we've actually forgotten that shit you used to pull." Jimmy pointed a finger at him threateningly. "Once Jey and I get a third Uso, all three of your asses are getting triple power bombed."

"Do your other brothers even want to be wrestlers?" Seth asked. Technically speaking, two more Usos already did exist. They just weren't in the company.

"They will to triple powerbomb your ass," Jimmy replied.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Come on. Nobody does a better triple powerbomb than we do." He grabbed on to Roman and Seth's shoulder while glaring at Jimmy. "Like let's not even kid ourselves here. We would whoop your asses any day of the week."

"You think so?" Jimmy looked ready to jump right across the table and put that theory to the test.

"Oh I know so. We're tougher than all of you combined."

"Yeah well, at least we can all trust each other." Jimmy made a point to look right at Seth. "Can't same the same shit about you, can we?"

Seth leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I deserve that," he admitted. "I fucked up. I fucked up on a major ass scale. And I'm sorry. I really am."

"And that's it?" Paige looked like she didn't believe it. "That's all you got to say?"

"What the fuck else am I supposed to say?" Seth peered over AJ's head to level her with a look. "There's really no justifying the shit I pulled. I can't take it back. I'm just trying to like, put the shit back together."

"And you just think that you -"

"Paige stop." AJ slapped her hand against the table. "It's not like you've been a saint the whole time you've been here. Remember pushing me off the stage? Or attacking me from behind? All while pretending to be my friend?"

"In fairness to me, you were doing as much attacking and pretending as I was," Paige countered. "And I haven't pulled anything like that since we actually started dating."

"I like how that's an accomplishment," Naomi said, barely suppressing a grin.

"It's more than I can say about me and Breezey." Neville left it at that as the waitress came and put the food down on the table. He nodded at her as she left and then spoke again. "We'd try to kill each other and then fuck in like every broom closet we could find."

"I think that's more info than I ever needed," Roman said as he grabbed one of the bottles of ketchup.

"Didn't you used to bang Tyler back in the day?" Dean didn't even ask the question to stir shit up. He genuinely wanted an answer to that. "You were FCW tag champs weren't you?"

"We were, but that doesn't mean we were banging," Roman replied. "I was tag champs with Seth and I didn't bang him."

"We're not counting the threesome anymore?"

Seth's words had Jey choking on his food. "Roman!"

Roman's entire face turned red. "It was one time! We were drunk!"

"Dude, if you're lying about that, then I definitely think you're lying about Tyler." Dean grabbed his burger and took a big bite of it. He only had about it halfway chewed up before he started speaking again. "You totally fucked smashed that didn't you?"

Roman wrinkled his nose. "I'm gonna smash my fist into your face if you spit on me again."

Dean thought about putting his threat to the test, but then stopped himself. Instead he turned his attention to the food Seth had gotten. The chicken tenders didn't look all that appealing, though the barbecue sauce did. He reached over to dip his fingers in them like he always did and got slapped on hands for it. "What the hell?"

"No way." Seth shook his head as he pulled his food away from Dean. "Keep your grubby paws off of my stuff."

"My paws are not grubby." Dean reached for the sauce again only to get a smack for his troubles. "Come on! I want it!"

"No."

"But why?"

"It's my sauce. I don't eat chicken with other stuff." Seth smacked Dean's hand away yet again. "Dean seriously."

"But you're trying to win me back. That means you should be nice to me and share."

"That's...that is blackmail."

"So?" Dean pulled the plate closer and swiped a finger into the little styrofoam bowl sitting on it. "Ha!" He sucked the sauce off his finger, making sure to be extra obscene and obnoxious about it.

"Why didn't you just ask for some of your own?" Naomi looked beyond exasperated with him. "This would have solved the whole issue."

"Because he likes being a little fuck to everyone else's food," Seth answered. He snagged some fries off of Dean's plate and popped them into his mouth.

"Fucker." Dean elbowed him in the ribs. "That was mine."

Seth smirked. "Sharing is caring."

"Not now it isn't!"

AJ put a hand over her mouth to try to muffle her giggles. Not that she really even needed to. Neither Dean or Seth were paying any attention to her.

"You're stealing all the sauce."

"How the hell am I stealing all of it? It's mine!" Seth scooped more sauce on to his chicken and stuffed it into his mouth. He had so much some dripped off on to the side of his mouth and his chin. Dean took that as a direct challenge. Without really thinking about it, he grabbed Seth by the head and turned his head so he could lean in and lick the sauce right off his face.

"Dean we are in public!" Roman grabbed Dean by the shirt and forcibly pulled him off Seth. "For god's sake!"

"What?" Dean tried his best to look innocent. "You act like I did something."

Jimmy and Jey snickered along with AJ now. They were the only three doing so. Naomi and Roman looked embarrassed while Dolph just shook his head and pushed his chair out.

"You know uh, I forgot I had some shit to give to Kofi." He stood up and pushed his food towards Naomi. "If you get my part I'll pay you back tomorrow, okay?"

"Dolph wait." Paige groaned as he just took off. "Damn it!" She got up now as well, taking the time to slap Seth and Dean upside the head as she chased after the bleached blonde.

"The fuck?" Dean rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "What the fuck was that for?"

Roman rolled his eyes. "If Seth was running around and licking someone else's face right in front of you, would you want to stick around?"

"I -"

"He really liked you man." Jey was jumping on board to this guilt parade now. "I mean, I know he broke it off, but it wasn't like he wanted to. You kind of made him feel like he had no choice."

"I -"

"You don't got to advertise that you two are back together like that," Jimmy said. "We get it."

"We're NOT together!" Dean smashed a fist against the table, now completely irritated from getting interrupted and ganged up on. "Not really. We're just...it's complicated alright?"

"You had us sitting here watching you flirt and lick his face and you're telling us you're not back together?" Jimmy snorted. "Come on man. We know you." He pointed to Seth. "Whatever hard to get act you're pulling is fucking bullshit. You spent a damn year pining over his slimy ass like a lovesick puppy."

Dean glared at him. It wasn't that Jimmy was wrong. That was how he had pined over Seth. But getting his "it's complicated" stance shit on pissed him off. It fucking was complicated. For as much as he missed Seth, for as natural as it felt to be sitting by his side again, there were still voices in his head telling him that the other man couldn't be trusted. They told him to run away before he got hurt again. His desire to have Seth back outweighed them, but they were still there. And it fucking scared him. It all fucking scared him to absolute death. He wasn't the type to put himself out there for the same person to hurt twice. That alone was scary enough for him to deal with. His paranoia was trying to give him shit as it was. He didn't need Jimmy or anyone else to add to it.

Seth's right hand dropped under the table and rested on Dean's leg. Nobody saw him give it a squeeze, but Dean felt it. His body instinctively relaxed at the touch. He looked down at his food and started eating again. He felt the others still watching him, but he didn't look up. Not until the barbecue sauce was slipped on to his plate without a word. He cast a quick look at Seth, who acted like he hadn't done anything at all. His lips turned up into a small smile and he grabbed a handful of fries and dumped them on to Seth's plate. Now they were even.

 


	13. Chapter 13

"You know you should go apologize to Dolph.

Roman's words made Dean groan. He hadn't come in the locker room expecting yet another lecture. He had thought he had gotten his fill of that the night before after dinner. Yet here they were, getting into it again. "I didn't even do anything," he muttered. He unzipped his bag and pulled out some tape. He needed to get his hands wrapped up for his match later. He and Dolph were scheduled to team up to face Stardust and Seth. He didn't know whose idea that was, but he didn't appreciate the situation they had put him in. Teaming with the guy he had just been messing around with to face his best friend's whacked out ex and his...well, he was trying not to use the term boyfriend, but that was what everyone else would say. Even Roman, who hadn't actually said it, was clearly looking at him and Seth like they were fully back together once again.

"You two were all but rubbing it in his face." Roman wasn't about to drop the subject.

"But I -"

"I know you didn't mean it." Roman finished the objection before Dean could. "I know you're not that big of an asshole. At least not most of the time."

"Oh thanks Ro." Dean gave him an annoyed look as he started the process of taping his hands. "I appreciate that."

Roman reached over and patted him on the shoulder. He was standing right next to the bench Dean was sitting on, his shirt and vest not currently on. Apparently this conversation was so important that he couldn't even finish getting dressed before having it. "I'm not trying to nag on you or anything. But you guys aren't going to be on the same page for your match if you don't go and apologize. I know he was the one who broke up with you, but he only did it because he knew you were going to choose Seth anyway. He still has feelings for you."

Dean almost pointed out that they weren't feelings he had asked for. He almost said he hadn't intentionally done anything to lead Dolph into thinking that they would be anything more than fuck buddies. But he didn't do it. He couldn't pin the blame on Dolph. That wasn't fair. It wasn't his fault. This shit happened.

"Talk to him? Please?"

"Fine. Just stop giving me that look." Dean shrugged Roman's hand away so he could continue taping himself up."

Roman backed off, staying silent as he finished getting dressed. "I talked to my mom this morning. She says if we don't got a show scheduled that she wants us to come spend the fourth of July with her and Dad."

"Did you tell her we would?"

"Well I'm not in the business of telling her no."

"Fucking mama's boy." Dean couldn't help but smile as he said that. How close Roman was to his parents was something that had baffled him at first. His own father had left before he was even born while his mother had been too wrapped up in her own addictions to really be there for him. Roman never having to go through that was something he was eternally grateful for. Roman was who he was because of his family. And he didn't want that changed for anything.

"Oh yeah, because you're not ever trying to steal my spot as the favorite." Roman shook his head. "You don't suck up to her at all now that she's adopted you into the family."

"I don't suck up to anyone."

"Mhmmmm."

Dean glared at him. "I do not!"

Roman just looked at him.

"You know what Ro? Fuck off." Dean stood up as he huffed. "I'm gonna go find Dolph and do the talking thing. And when I come back you better have fucked off."

"How does one actually fuck off anyway?"

"I don't know! But you better figure it out!"

* * *

"My stomach hurts," Dolph complained as Paige slapped another candy bar in his hand. He was sitting with her in the divas locker room, the both of them ignoring the glares they were getting from Summer and Cameron. Paige had insisted on him not only being here, but doing what she thought was the cure for post break-up blues: eating copious amounts of candy. That had sounded great in theory, but now that it was being put into practice, he was coming to regret the decision. He wasn't a big sweets eater anyway, so stuffing his face full of them was really getting to him.

"Oh come on." Paige looked so disappointed in him as she popped more Skittles into her mouth. "You barely ate anything."

"Five Hershey bars, seven Snickers and two Milky Ways is not barely anything Paige." He handed her the candy bar back and put his hand over his stomach. "Fuck. I think I might throw up."

"Well don't do it in here." Paige put aside her candy to place her hand on his back. "If Summer hears you puking then she'll start puking. It's a whole big thing."

Dolph wrinkled his nose. That was about the last thing he needed to know at the moment. "I'm gonna go get some ginger ale. I'll be right back."

"We have ginger ale?"

"In catering yeah." He stood up, keeping a hand over his stomach as he started moving. He ignored the looks Summer and Cameron gave him as he left the room, instead focusing on getting to catering, which was just down the hall. He had almost made it to the back table that held all the food and drinks when he heard his name being called. The owner of the gruff voice was not the person he wanted to speak to though. He made himself keep going, just trying to pretend like he hadn't heard him.

"Dolph!" Dean wasn't one to give up. He stepped right in his way, putting his hands up to his chest to stop him in his tracks. "Hey um, can we talk?"

Dolph wanted to just say no. He wasn't in the mood to do this. But given the fact that they had to team up together later, there was really no escaping this. "About what?"

Dean lowered his hands and shifted around uncomfortably. Despite being the one to seek him out, he was clearly at a loss now that he was here. It gave Dolph the suspicion that Roman was making him have this conversation. That didn't do anything to make him feel better. "Look um, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Dolph sheepishly. "I didn't really realize I was doing it. I just...I got carried away? I don't know." His voice dropped down to a mumble, making it really hard to understand him. He really was terrible at this.

"Right. Carried away." Dolph didn't actually think Dean was lying. He was a lot of things, but a liar really wasn't one of them. Dolph didn't find himself feeling better though. He had seen how naturally he and Seth had slipped back into being with each other. It was like nothing had ever happened. It had completely reinforced the fact that his thing with Dean had been nothing. Even with knowing that was how it would end, it didn't lessen the pain.

"Are we gonna be cool?" Dean let his hand slip away from the back of his neck. "For the match?"

"You tell me. It's your boyfriend we're fighting." Dolph glanced around, making sure there was nobody else in earshot.

Dean frowned. "I just wrestled him this weekend. I had Roman's back during that tag match. What makes you think this is gonna be different?"

Because Roman was probably the only person Dean wouldn't throw under a bus for Seth. Maybe that wasn't a fair assessment, but it still felt true enough. Dolph didn't let himself say it though. He didn't have it in him to start that fight. Not at the moment at least. "Forget it. We're cool." He backed off, not even interested in getting the ginger ale anymore. His stomachache was far in the back of his mind now. "I'll see ya out there, alright?"

Dean said nothing. He looked like he was about to, but Dolph didn't give him the opportunity. He turned around and just walked away, letting out a long sigh as he did so. He needed this night to go by quickly. He just wanted to get through the match and hopefully be able to move on completely after it.

* * *

Seth groaned as he laid down on the floor of his locker room. It was the first time in a long time that he actually had a proper one to himself. There was of course a reason for it. A fitness magazine had wanted to do a piece on him and had come to the arena to do it. The agents had been on orders to make sure he wasn't banished to the broom closets that had become his home at the arenas. It would be bad press. He was grateful for that. The magazine representatives had come, giving him a short interview while turning the room into a mini gym so they could do a photo-shoot while he worked out. They were gone now, leaving him to catch his breath. His hair was pulled back up into a messy bun while his skin tight black pants clung to him even more tightly. His fingers drifted up and down his bare torso, his eyes closing as he tried to clear his mind. He had to team up with Stardust to face Dean and Dolph, which wasn't something he was thrilled about. Not when Stardust was so intent on hurting Dean or when Dolph was probably looking to legit kick his teeth down his throat. That did not sound like the makings of a good night to him.

The sound of the door opening made him open his eyes and sit up. Dean had entered, freezing upon seeing Seth's sweaty, half naked state. Blue eyes eyes raked over his muscular body and Seth swallowed hard as they clouded over with lust. He knew that look all too well. Dean looked like he wanted to just devour him completely. He shivered, his cock twitching to life inside his pants. God how he wanted that too. Besides the kissing, they hadn't done anything since the night before Payback the previous year. The night of that pay per view they had been too beat up to even attempt it. And then...well he had completely fucked things up.

Dean just kept staring at him, his mouth opening and closing several times as the words failed him. They were supposed to be taking things slow. That was what Dean needed. They had to build up the trust that had been destroyed. But in an that moment, an old, familiar tension was building. They had always been very physical with each other. That chemistry had been there before they clicked as being a couple. Dean was a creature of touching, and Seth had quickly become addicted to that. Everything Dean would do would drive him wild.

"I um, I should probably get dressed." Seth forced himself to say the words as he got up. He had to keep his head. He needed to keep things slow. "We um, we got a match." He averted his eyes to the ground as he went over to his bag. He bent over to unzip it and that was when he heard it. The unmistakable low growl that meant only one thing. He immediately straightened back up and barely got turned around before Dean had a hold of him. Large hands grabbed his hips while he was pushed back up against the wall. A sharp gasp escaped him before Dean's mouth covered his with a kiss. Dean's hands moved up to hold his head in place, not letting him break the kiss. Not that he even wanted to. His own hands settled on Dean's ass, pulling him in even closer.

"Fucking god damn it," Dean finally managed to mumble between desperate, messy kisses. "I fucking just came in here to talk." His hands moved away from Seth's head, freely groping his still lightly sweaty body. "What the fuck are you even doing like this?" His fingers pinched Seth's nipples while his lips moved all across Seth's jaw. "Are you fucking trying to kill me?"

"I had a photo-shoot."

"You had to be sweaty and half naked? Is this Cyberfights shit?"

"Fuck you asshole." Seth tilted his head back, letting Dean leave a trail of kisses along the column of his neck. "It was a fucking fitness magazine. I had to work out."

"Well god fucking damn" Dean continued moving his mouth all across Seth's neck, kissing and sucking on the smooth flesh eagerly. Seth knew he needed to make Dean stop. If he had a bunch of marks on him they would both be in trouble. It was hard to care though. Every little kiss from Dean sent a rush of fire through his veins. Every caress from his hands and fingertips made him shiver. He arched toward the touch, his crotch shamelessly rubbing against Dean's. They were both hard, both achingly desperate for more. His hands slipped under Dean's shirt, running up and down his back. Nails scraped against skin, making the older man hiss.

"Dean..."

"Fuck you Seth." Dean's hands reached down to Seth's ass, squeezing the perfectly round cheeks roughly. "Do you know what you do to me?" His kisses went down to his shoulder, teeth biting down to make the younger man yelp. "You fuck it all up. You fuck everything up."

"I'm sorry." Seth gently raked his nails down Dean's side.

"Shouldn't be doing this." Dean licked the spot he had bit before kissing his way back to Seth's neck.

"We can stop." Seth hated the suggestion as soon as he said it. But he had to put it out there. "If you want."

The growl he got in response told him exactly what Dean thought of that. Their lips met again, Dean's tongue eagerly invading his mouth. Large hands stayed on his ass as he was lifted up. He moaned, wrapping his legs around Dean's slim waist. Dean's hips were moving, thrusting against him and rubbing their groins together. He moaned again, much louder this time. It was too much yet not enough at the same time. The friction burned right through him, making him writhe in Dean's grasp. He could feel how hard Dean was and he wanted more. He wanted Dean buried inside of him, pounding into him until he couldn't take it anymore. He wanted Dean's hand wrapped around his cock, pumping him in time with his thrusts. He tried to beg for it. The words were right there, but all that came out of him was a desperate, broken whine.

"Fuck." Dean moved his hips faster. He pulled back from the kiss, his eyes drinking in every bit of pleasure that crossed Seth's face. "Fucking jesus Seth."

Seth whimpered. His back was being rubbed raw by the wall, but he didn't give a shit. He was so close. So fucking close. He didn't want to be this close already. He didn't want it to end. But it had been too long since they had done anything remotely like this. There was just no way he could last much longer.

"Fuck Seth." Dean kept pumping his hips, his breathing growing more and more erratic. He was close. He was so close and it occurred to Seth that them cumming in their pants like a couple of horny teenagers was probably not the best idea. Especially not when Dean was already in his ring gear.

"Let me suck you." Seth gripped a hand in Dean's blonde, curly locks as he whispered in his ear. "Come on baby." His teeth gently nipped Dean's earlobe, earning a small gasp from the other man. Right there had always been a sensitive spot for him. "I wanna taste you."

An almost broken whine escaped Dean's mouth. His grip loosened, allowing Seth to slip from his grasp. He turned them so Dean was the one pressed back first against the wall. He dropped down to his knees, his hands working quickly to yank down Dean's jeans and underwear. His hand gripped the base of the swollen, leaking cock, giving it just a couple of strokes before he took it into his mouth.

"Fuck!" Dean grabbed Seth's hair, fingers threading tightly through the brown and blonde locks. "Seth...fucking jesus..."

Seth bobbed his head up and down quickly, cheeks hollowing to create the tightest suction he could around Dean's shaft. His tongue moved all across the length, Dean's taste making him moan. His hands worked on freeing his own cock now. He pushed his pants down to his thighs and his left hand wrapped around his shaft. He stroked himself to the rhythm that he sucked Dean, his right hand moving up to squeeze Dean's balls.

Dean moaned something that sort of sounded like Seth's name as he came. His body shuddered, his fingers gripping Seth's hair even more tightly. Seth's eyes teared up, but he didn't let the pain stop him. Instead he tried to just swallow down every drop of cum that filled his mouth while he stroked himself faster. His own release spilled on his hand and on the floor. He pulled his mouth away from Dean's cock and panted for breath. He could still taste Dean on his tongue, which made him smile. Fuck how he had missed it.

"Seth..." Dean moved just enough so he wouldn't end up sitting in Seth's cum before he slid down to the floor. He was breathing as hard, if not harder, than Seth. His eyes were wide and he just stared at Seth, a look of almost disbelief on his face.

"Hey, are you alright?" Seth reached out with the hand not covered in cum and cupped Dean's face. "Dean?"

Dean swatted that hand away and grabbed the other one. He licked it clean, his actions becoming more desperate with every taste of Seth. He pulled the younger man on to his lap, capturing his lips in another desperate kiss. His arms wrapped around Seth's body, holding on for dear life.

"Dean..." Seth barely managed to gasp out that single word.

Dean moved his lips away just long enough to kiss every single inch of his face before going back to his mouth. Desperation morphed into pure panic. He was afraid. He would never admit it, but Seth knew him too well. He was afraid Seth would choose to walk away and stay away for good this time.

"Hey. Hey hey hey." Seth pulled back from the kiss and put his hand on the back of Dean's neck, He rubbed gently, peppering Dean's face with kisses to help lull him into relaxing. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Dean just gave him a look before letting his head fall forward and rest against Seth's shoulder. The words weren't really believed. Seth could tell they weren't. It hurt, but he only had himself to blame. He kept his hand on Dean's neck, continuously rubbing until he felt Dean actually relax and come back to himself. "You okay now?"

Dean just nodded.

"You want to talk about it?"

"No." Dean moved Seth off his lap so he could stand up. He looked embarrassed for getting overwhelmed like that. "I'm fine." He pulled Seth up to his feet as well. "We should um, get ready for the match."

"Right." Seth had almost forgotten about that. "We should." He snuck a quick peck on Dean's cheek before going to his bag. There was still a tension in the air, this one different than before. He swallowed hard, looking back at Dean to break it. "Loser buys the beers later?"

Dean's lips twitched into the beginning of a smile. This was usually his and Roman's bet, though Seth had been known to get involved in it when they had been a team. "Yeah. Loser buys the beers."


	14. Chapter 14

Dean paced back and forth, his hands struggling to get the title belt secured around his waist as he continuously moved. Stardust was already out in the ring while Seth was making his entrance. Dolph would go out next and then it would be him. He didn't feel ready for it. His mind wasn't in it. It was focused on not only what had happened earlier between him and Seth, but it was zeroed in on the anxious, fluttery feeling in his chest and stomach. He tried to shake it off, but it not only remained, but seemed to be growing by the second. There was too much going on inside of him. He wanted Seth. Wanted to take him. To feel him inside and out and make up for the year they had lost. But there was fear with that desire. He couldn't let himself be that vulnerable. He couldn't let himself be weak. He needed to be slow, needed to make sure Seth wouldn't leave. But then again, what if Seth got tired of waiting for him and then left all over again? That nearly induced a full on panic attack on the spot. He couldn't have Seth leave. He couldn't. Not after he just got him back.

"You need help with that?" Dolph's voice cut in through the haze Dean's head was falling into.

"What?" Dean looked at him and blinked dumbly.

Dolph rolled his eyes before getting behind Dean and securing the title in place. "There." He stepped away and gave Dean's waist a scrutinizing look. "You really gotta bulk up there. I'm surprised the title even stays around you."

"The fuck's that even supposed to mean?"

"You got a tiny waist."

Dean groaned. "No I don't."

"Dude you totally -"

"Ziggler! You're on!" The argument was cut off by the nearby agent, who had to yell over Dolph's music to be heard.

"Shit!" Dolph quickly went out through the curtain and Dean sighed. He was next. He still wasn't ready. But he had to make himself get there anyway. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times, testing the tape he had wrapped around his hands. It was good. Not too loose but not too tight. He threw a couple of punches at the air, absently chewing on his tongue and bouncing on his heels. It was go time. He could do this.

His music hit and not a single member of the crowd knew anything was wrong as he came back. They just cheered, more than happy to see him. Dolph was waiting on the outside of the ring for him, while Stardust and Seth stood in the ring. Stardust was up on the ropes, hissing at him like some sort of crazed cat. Seth gave the painted man several freaked out looks. Dean almost smiled. This was going to be interesting.

The match started well enough. Dean tried to stay in there with Stardust as much as he could, wanting to show the freak what would come in their eventual title match. Stardust kept slipping away, tagging in Seth to do the dirty work. Seth kept glaring at him, the distraction allowing Dean and Dolph to get an advantage. They kept that advantage until Stardust managed to grab a hold of Dolph's ankles and trip him up as he was running off the ropes.

"Oh come on!" Dean yelled as he was stopped by the referee from going after Stardust. "This is fucking bullshit!"

"Get back in your corner Dean!"

"Ref! He's fucking cheating!"

"I've got this Ambrose. Just get back in your corner!"

The referee had jack shit, but there was no point in continuing the argument. Dean reluctantly went back to standing at his corner, eyes narrowed as Stardust tagged in to go after the fallen Dolph. "You're such a fucking little coward. Why don't you come over here and try that shit?"

"Dean!" The referee gave him an absolutely exasperated look. "Would you watch your language?"

"Why?"

"This is TV!"

"It's taped TV!" Dean grabbed the tag rope and wrapped it around his hand. He kept his eyes narrowed on Stardust, who was choking and clawing at Dolph. Beady red eyes kept looking Dean's way. He was looking for some sort of reaction. Dean really didn't know what he was expecting. He wasn't planning on giving it to him though. He shouted an array of curses, surely giving the people in the audio truck heart attacks for what they were going to have to edit out. Dean saw Seth shake his head before tagging himself in, the look on his face giving away the fact that he was trying really hard not to laugh.

"Come on Dolph!" For the sake of the match, Dean stomped his feet and egged his partner on as he got worked over by Seth now. "Jesus! Don't make me come in there!"

"Do come in here!" Dolph finally managed to yell as Seth got him trapped in a single leg Boston crab. "This ain't really going well!"

"You stay back Dean!" the referee warned.

"Yeah!" Seth added.

"Shut up Seth!" Dolph pushed his upper body up off the mat and got himself turned over enough to where he could pull Seth into a small package. That got a two count, and Dolph got up, making a desperate dive towards Dean, who had his hand out for the tag. He didn't quite make it. Seth managed to stop him and drag him back to the other corner. Stardust came back in, continuing to work over Dolph. Dolph kept trying to fight back, eventually stunning Stardust with a jawbreaker long enough to get over to Dean and make the tag. The crowd roared as Dean got in and literally threw himself on top of Stardust. He threw down a series of punches, his flurry of offense not stopping there. He was in the zone; how distracted he had been earlier felt like it happened nearly a lifetime ago.

A bulldog out of the corner got him a two count. Seth broke it before the three, prompting Dolph to jump back in. He rushed at Seth, only to get dumped out of the ring. Dean kicked him in the gut and tried to hit Dirty Deeds. Seth reversed out it and lifted Dean up on to his shoulders. Dean had no idea what he planned to do and didn't get to find out. Stardust made it to his feet and stepped right in, spitting the green mist he had used on Dean before right in Seth's face.

"FUCK!" Seth unceremoniously dropped Dean and fell back, his hands going right up to his eyes.

"Seth!" Dean scrambled towards him, completely forgetting about everything else in his concern. It was a mistake that was capitalized on immediately. Stardust rolled him up, hooking in a hand on his jeans to get the three count. The bastard bailed out of the ring right after, leaving Dean barely able to process what had just happened. _Son of a bitch..._

* * *

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!"

"Seth stop moving."

"It fucking burns!"

"Well I know it does! That's why we need to get the rest of the shit out of your eyes!"

Roman leaned up against the doorway of the trainer's room, just silently watching the scene in front of him unfold. Dean and the referee had used a bottle of water from the commentary table to rinse Seth's eyes out a little bit while they had been at ringside. Now Dean was seeing fit to take the doctor's job and try to finish taking care of Seth. It wasn't a fact that surprised Roman by any means. Dean didn't like sitting back while people he cared about were hurt. If there was something he thought he could do, he insisted on doing it, even if he wasn't necessarily the one who should be doing it.

"That's it." Dean finally got Seth to stop squirming enough to finish rinsing his eyes out. "There we go." He tilted Seth's head back to look at his handiwork. "I think we got it."

"Fuck that sucked." Seth looked relieved, though still obviously pissed off. "That little cocksucker is dead the next time I see him."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." The trainer stepped in, holding up a small bottle of eye drops. "We'll put these in so hopefully the burning don't come back. If you even think you're having any problems go to an eye doctor. Understand?"

Seth nodded.

"I also don't suggest driving tonight. Just in case."

Roman watched as Seth froze. He had obviously driven here alone, and had expected to leave the same way. Dean tensed as well, his head turning to look back and forth between Seth and Roman. Roman knew what was on his mind. He wanted Seth to ride with them now. He just wouldn't make the offer. Not with knowing that Roman still wasn't back on the Seth train. All Roman had to do was either say no or stay silent and Seth would have to find his own way.

"He can ride with us." The words left Roman's mouth with a sigh. He couldn't just leave him. Dean would just spend the entire night worrying. Roman couldn't make him go through that. "We'll keep an eye on him."

Seth looked surprised while Dean gave him a grateful look. Roman gave him a small smile and gestured towards the door. "We good to go?"

The trainer nodded, and Roman gestured for Dean and Seth to follow him. They did just that, both of them muttering about killing Stardust as they went. Roman only half listened to the words. He was too busy digging his car keys out of his pocket. He had already filmed his promo, so they were free to head to the hotel. All they had to do was get their stuff.

"Which room is closer?" Roman directed the question to Dean, who surely knew where Seth's locker room was as well as their own.

"Ours," Dean answered. He fidgeted a bit, the Intercontinental title hanging so loosely in his hand it was a wonder he hadn't dropped it already. "You could get our stuff while we get his. We can meet you at the car."

Roman narrowed his eyes. "Am I going to have to chase you down because you're making out in the locker room?"

Dean looked insulted. "No!" He turned to Seth for support. "Tell him."

Seth grinned sheepishly. "We uh, we kind of already -"

"Oh no no no. No details." Roman waved his hand until he stopped talking. "No. Just no."

Dean smirked. "You sure Ro?"

"I'm sure." Roman pointed up the hallway. "We're not even going to split up now. We're going together."

Dean and Seth shared a look. Dean looked ready to argue, but Seth shook his head. Roman watched as the younger man hooked his fingers with Dean's, the bit of silent communication continuing on. Roman bit down on his lower lip, just watching as the fight gradually melted off Dean's face. Nobody got him to cooperate like Seth did. Absolutely nobody. He was getting better at it sure, but he really couldn't do it with just a touch. But Seth could. Even after all this time, even after everything that had happened, Seth still had so much power over Dean. Roman wondered if Dean realized just how badly the other man had him. Dean wasn't dumb. He was one of the smartest people Roman knew. But he tended to either get ruled by his emotions, or got in such a denial that it made him blind. But Roman could see it. He saw every little bit of it.

"We going?" Dean's voice snapped Roman out of his musings. "Ro?"

"Yeah." Roman cast a look of warning to Seth before taking the lead once again. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

The digital clock by the bed showed that it was nearly two in the morning, but Seth still couldn't sleep. He didn't even really want to try. Driving with Dean and Roman to the hotel had turned into him rooming with them as well. The experience had been completely surreal. He hadn't ever expected to be back. Yet here he was, just like old times. The TV was still on, the sound nearly muted at this point. Roman was in the bed closest to the door, long asleep at this point. That left Seth and Dean in the other bed, both still wide awake. Seth was laying down at least, the blankets pulled up right up to his chin. Roman constantly burned like a furnace, and when it was summer he always had the air conditioning on as cold as he could get away with. In the old days, Seth would have long bitched him out and turned the temperature back up. But for now he let it be. Instead he snuggled deeper under the blankets and turned away from the clock to look at Dean. He was still sitting up, eyes glued to some movie playing on the TV. "What are you watching?" Seth finally asked. If his attempts at going to sleep were going to fail, he figured he might as well just give up for now.

"Some movie I used to watch when I was like twelve or thirteen." Dean didn't look away from the TV as he answered. "Patrick Stewart's taken this whole school hostage. Trouble maker kid has to save the day." His brow furrowed just a bit. "I don't remember it being quite this cheesy."

"Being young blinds us to the cheese factor." Seth sat up now, keeping the blankets on him as he leaned back against the pillows. "I remember loving Batman and Robin when I was a kid. I'd get so pissed off at my stepdad when he would talk shit about George Clooney being Batman."

Dean snorted. "God that was a terrible movie."

"Not the worst ever though. Remember that one we found that had a demon hidden inside a pinata and he started killing people on an island?"

"Oh my god." Dean slapped a hand over his mouth to try to muffle his laughter. "No oh my god. I had blocked that out you jackass."

"Whoops." Seth laughed as Dean lowered his hand to smack him on the chest. "My bad."

"Fucker." Dean hit him again before turning his attention back to the movie. Seth let himself start watching it as well, his eyes steadily starting to grow heavier until Dean spoke again.

"You ever think of what we could have done? If the three of us had stayed a group?"

Seth blinked and looked at Dean in surprise. Dean just stared back at him, really wanting an answer. "What else could we have done? We beat like everyone."

"We could have evened the score with the Wyatts. Beat everyone else again. Win more titles." Dean shrugged. "I just...I miss it." He rubbed his hands over his face. "It's stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid."

"It is." Dean grabbed the remote and shut the TV off.

"Dean -"

"How's your eyes?"

"Fine." Seth sighed, deciding to let the other subject drop for now. "I had that shit in my eyes for less time than you did."

"True." Dean moved so he was laying down, his hands resting against his chest, fingers drumming against himself. "What are you going to do when you get home?"

"I don't know. I gotta pick up Kevin, but that's like, all I really have to do."

"God you still have that little rat of a dog?"

"Oh shut up. You love Kevin."

Even in the dark, Seth could see Dean's face twisting into an indigent scowl. "I do not."

Seth didn't buy that for a single second. "Remember when I used to come home from the gym and find him sleeping on your chest? And you would get so mad when he would get up to see me?"

"Nope," Dean lied. "Never happened."

Seth smirked. "Or when I would come home and find you talking to him in that stupid cutesy baby voice you like to do with dogs."

"Shut up." Dean was blushing. Seth knew it.

"And then there was that time you had his rope in your mouth when you were playing tug of war..."

"Okay you know what? Fine. I like your stupid dog." Dean glared at him. "Happy now?"

"He misses you."

"How do you know?"

"When I watch stuff back, he gets excited when you're on the TV."

Dean's expression softened. "Shit man. I never actually thought he liked me that much."

"You could come see him if you want." Seth swallowed hard as he made the offer. Deep down, he knew he wasn't just making the offer on Kevin's behalf. He wanted Dean to come home with him. He didn't like going home to just his dog. He loved Kevin to death sure; the little dog was like his baby. But it wasn't the same thing as having an actual person home with him. It wasn't the same as having Dean home with him. "I mean, Roman does live just a couple hours away. You could like, go stay with him if you don't want to stay the whole time."

Dean stayed silent at the offer. He surely saw the real meaning in Seth's offer. There was no outright rejection of the offer. Seth told himself that was a victory within itself. But it still wasn't the yes he had hoped to somehow get. The silence hung heavily between them. Dean's eyes shifted anywhere but on him, teeth chewing anxiously on his lower lip. Seth sighed in defeat. He was asking for too much. It was too much too fast. He should have just kept his mouth shut.

"You can forget it if you want. It's not a big deal." Seth played it off, though he knew wouldn't fool Dean for an instant. "I'm just talking out my ass."

"Seth -"

Seth cut him off with a kiss. He didn't know how else to put an end to the conversation. Dean would see right through his words. Of course, he was surely seeing through this too. But at least this wasn't something Dean usually argued with. This time wasn't an exception. Dean grabbed a handful of of Seth's hair and held it tightly, deepening the kiss. Seth groaned into it, whimpering as he felt Dean's hand slide under his shirt.

"Fucking hell, I can hear you two you know." Roman's voice cut in, making them both jump. They broke apart and looked over to the other bed. Roman was sitting up and glaring at them.

"Weren't you fucking sleeping?" Dean grumbled.

"Yes. But I gotta piss."

"So you interrupted because?"

Roman just grabbed a pillow and threw it at Dean's face before going to the bathroom. Seth sighed and rolled over on his side, pretending to settle in to sleep now. But sleep didn't come. He just stared at the wall the rest of the night, too lost in his own thoughts to realize that Dean was not only still awake as well, but staring at the back of his head the whole time.


	15. Chapter 15

Dean sighed as plopped down on his couch. He was back in Vegas and had just spent the entirety of his first day off running every possible errand that he could think to do. He had wanted to stay busy. He had wanted to tire himself out to the point where he would be too tired to even think by the time he got home. He was only party successful. He was damn tired, that was for sure. But now that he had a moment, his brain was starting to kick into overdrive. Everything that had been happening with Seth kept replaying in his mind. For as badly as he had missed him, he had hadn't ever thought they would really get to this point. When he lost someone, he tended to lose them for good. He never got a second chance. But this time it was seemingly different. Seth wanted another chance. Seth wanted to be with him again.

 _Because he has nowhere else to go._ The little lingering voice of doubt that Dean really wanted to shut up started up once more. _If he hadn't fallen from grace he would have never thought twice about you._

Maybe that was true. But that didn't matter. Playing a game of what ifs didn't change what had actually happened. The Authority was gone, Seth had fallen and gotten bitch slapped with the reality that he had given up everything for nothing. And he regretted it. Dean did believe that. Maybe Seth had fooled him long enough to betray him, but in his heart he still felt like he knew him better than anyone else did. And he didn't think Seth was bullshitting him on regretting what he had done and wanting to fix it.

Dean rubbed his hands over his face before snagging the remote and turning on the TV. He needed to find something to watch. He needed a distraction. He started flipping through the channels, trying to find something at least halfway decent to watch. It was easier said than done. Absolutely nothing he found looked good. He finally just settled on a basketball game. He got up long enough to get himself a beer before sitting back down. He kept his eyes locked on the TV, hoping he could keep himself focused on it. It wasn't a fight he won for long. His thoughts went right back to Seth. More specifically, his mind went to the offer Seth had made about coming home with him. That had been weighing on him since the moment it had come up. He had avoided answering at the time, too freaked out by the offer to give an answer. But now that he was home alone, he wished he had gone. The solitude currently felt more like a prison rather than an escape.

"Fuck!" He polished off his beer before setting it down and standing up. He needed to throw the bottle away but he didn't worry about that at the moment. Instead he walked to his bedroom and grabbed his phone off the top of the dresser. He stared at the device, trying to decide what to do. He was the one who said he wanted to take it slow. That was what he needed. And if he went to Seth's, he wasn't sure if could keep things that way. But staying alone until he hit the road on Sunday seemed pretty awful in itself. There was no real winning in this scenario.

"Christ on a fucking pony," he muttered under his breath. He dialed Roman's number, hoping he would get an answer. It went straight to voicemail though. "What the fuck are you even doing Ro?"

The question went completely unanswered of course. Dean took a moment to think before dialing AJ's number next. She was really the only other person she could talk to about this. The others were still too against the idea to be much help.

"Hello?" AJ answering her phone already made her a million times more helpful than Roman.

"Hey." Dean sat down on his bed, his fingers on his free hand playing with a bit of string that hung loose on the edge of his shirt. "What's up?"

"Well Paige and I are supposed to be doing a movie night, but we can't agree on what the hell to watch." A frustrated sigh punctuated AJ's statement.

"What the hell are the choices?"

"She wants either Insidious Chapter 2 or Nightmare on Elm Street. I want Chasing Amy or Little Mermaid."

Dean blinked. "AJ, you're an adult."

"And?"

"So why is Little Mermaid a choice?"

"Because I like Disney movies." AJ sounded a bit insulted. "I was going to put Oliver and Company as the other choice, but I tried to make a non-Disney pick so maybe she would compromise with what I want. But did it work? Nooooo. She has to want to watch her stupid horror movies."

Dean cringed. He completely sympathized with her on that front. "Dude don't let her do that shit. Those things are awful."

"I know!" AJ could be heard smacking her hand against something. "She does it just to laugh at me for getting scared. I know it."

"That bitch."

"Hey! That's my lady. Only I get to call her that."

"Sorry."

"You better be." Even with the apology Dean had given, he was probably getting slapped upside his head the next time she saw him. "Why did you call anyway?"

He shrugged despite knowing she couldn't see it. "I can't say hi?"

"You don't do phone conversations," she replied. She wasn't about to be fooled. "Now what's up?"

Dean hesitated, suddenly second guessing this entire call. "I uh...need some advice."

"You? Listening to someone other than yourself?" AJ let out a mock gasp. "What is this world coming to?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Fuck off."

She just laughed at him.

"Seth asked me to go home with him." He decided to just say it instead of making her drag it out of him.

That stopped the laughter. "Oh my god." He had her complete and undivided attention now. "Are you serious?"

"Why the fuck would I call you and lie about it?" Dean laid back so he could stretch.

"Good point," AJ admitted. "So I'm assuming you didn't go with him."

"No."

"Well why the hell not?" The exasperation could be plainly heard in her voice. "Did you not want to?"

"I...I like froze when he asked." Dean was really glad they weren't actually face to face for this conversation. It was hard enough saying this stuff without a pair of eyes watching him get flustered. "It felt like too much so I like, completely avoided even answering him."

"But?" AJ prompted, wanting him to go on.

"Now I'm here and...it fucking sucks." He let out a short laugh. "I'm fucking pathetic. It's a few god damn days. This shouldn't fucking bother me."

"First off, you're not pathetic. Don't even give me that shit." AJ was not about to have it. "I never liked living alone myself. It feels lonely. And kind of creepy because like, a serial killer could just sneak in and -"

"Hey hey hey! Stop that!" He sat back up, glancing around his room warily. "I don't need you putting ideas in my head."

"Sorry." She at least had the decency to sound genuine. "But seriously, if you want to go to Florida, get your ass on a plane and go to there. Holding back and being miserable the whole weekend isn't going to do you any good."

"And what if things get weird and fucked up?" Dean hated how he sounded as he asked the question. Absolutely fucking hated it.

"I'm not sure what's weirder and more fucked up than any of the shit that's already happened between you two. I mean, unless you both get kidnapped by aliens and they give you matching anal probes."

Dean blinked, completely unsure of what he was supposed to do with those mental images that she laid out for him. "Uh..."

"You really want my advice?" AJ turned more serious now. "Just go down there. If you don't think actually staying with Seth's a good idea, then stay with Roman and just go see Seth."

"You think?"

"Well yeah. You're not happy sitting there alone. Go see your boy. Kiss your boy." The serious tone broke as she started to sing. "Shalalala kiss the boy."

"Alright alright."

"You gotta kiss the boy."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm just going to pretend you're not doing that and hang up now."

"Buzzkill," she huffed. "Call me when you get down there?"

"Yeah yeah yeah."

"I'm being serious here."

"I will," he assured her. "You'll be the first to know I landed."

"Damn right I will be."

* * *

The knock on his door came completely unexpected. Roman had just stepped out of the shower, needing it after his morning workout. He went to the door in just a pair of basketball shorts that he slipped on. His towel was still in his hand, currently being used to finish drying his hair. He didn't think about peeking out the window to see who it was. Instead he just opened the door, getting completely surprised by seeing Seth standing on the other side of it. His former tag team partner held Kevin's leash in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other. "What the hell are you doing here?" Roman finally asked.

Seth shifted from foot to foot, completely nervous now that Roman had answered the door. "I uh...thought you might like beer?"

"It's not even eleven." Roman looked down at Kevin, who was trying to climb up his leg. "Hey buddy." He bent down and patted him on the head. He had forgotten the last time he had seen the little dog.

"Oh yeah." Seth cringed. He clearly hadn't thought about the time when he had gotten this idea. "Um...you could have it later though. If you want." He shrugged, his cheeks turning beet red now.

"Yeah. I guess." Roman pushed aside his leftover ill will and took the beer from his hand. "Come on. Get in here."

Seth looked grateful for the invitation. He came inside, waiting until Roman closed the door to let Kevin off his leash. "Thanks."

Roman just grunted before walking towards the kitchen. He heard Seth tell Kevin to come with him, but the little dog was already running towards the living room. He had always liked to steal Roman's chair, and the time away had not changed that in the slightest.

Roman put the beer in the fridge for later and shut the door with his hip just as Seth came into the room. "So what exactly are you doing here?" He decided to just ask instead of beating around the bush. "You didn't drive down here just to give me free booze."

"No," Seth admitted. He came to a stop by the table, hesitating before taking a seat. "I uh, I just um...I just wanted to say sorry and stuff. For everything." He rubbed the back of his neck as Roman just looked at him. "You don't have to forgive me and shit. That's up to you. I just needed to say it."

Roman folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. "Are you really?"

"What?"

"Sorry." Roman didn't feel like he should have had to clarify, but did it anyway. "Are you really sorry for fucking me over too, or are you just trying to make nice because of Dean?"

"I'm sorry Ro," Seth insisted. His tone pleaded with Roman to believe him. "I really am."

Roman mulled it over. Seth did seem genuine on this. He really did. But that didn't mean he was about to make things easier for him. Not when he had the chance to get some stuff off his chest. "He said he wouldn't get back with you if I said no. Did he tell you that?"

Seth shook his head.

"I almost did it. I fucking wanted to so bad."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because it wouldn't have changed anything. He still would want you." Roman let out a humorless chuckle. "I could barely afford to be mad at you for my own behalf. Not with the way he fell apart."

Seth cringed. "Ro -"

"Have you ever seen him cry before? Because let me tell you, if he ever does that shit because of you again, I will kill you. You can believe that."

Seth looked down at his hands. Guilt made him too ashamed to look up.

"I've hated you more for his sake than anything else." Roman moved away from the counter, his arms still staying tightly crossed. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I hated you for hurting me too. You were family to me and I thought I was the same to you. You spitting on that fucking hurt."

"Roman..."

"But hurting someone I care about always has bothered me more." Roman's lips twitched. "Dean says it's because I'm a fucking sap. Maybe that's true. But it's whatever." He unfolded his arms and ran a hand over his hair. "I want to be able to forgive you. And not just for his sake. You're still my little brother." He swallowed hard, the admission surprising the both of them. "I've missed you, you fucking dickweed."

Seth looked at him again, his lips slowly turned up into a small smile. "You sounded like Dean there."

Roman chuckled, this time for real. "Yeah, I know. He's a terrible influence."

It was Seth's turn to laugh now. "Don't I know it."

A not completely unbearable silence fell between them. Neither really knew what to say or do next. Roman would have thought Seth would have at least had something planned. He was the one who came all the way here from Orlando. But he probably hadn't expected Roman to actually let him in, let alone get to this point.

"Do you uh, want to get some lunch?" Roman was the one to make the offer. They couldn't just keep standing there in silence. It was just eventually going to get awkward. "I can put some water down for Kevin and then we can get something."

Seth nodded, looking more relaxed and relieved now that he was not in immediate danger of getting punched in the face. "That sounds good." His eyes went to Roman's naked torso. "You should probably put some clothes on too. Most places have a no shirt no service type of rule."

Roman smirked. "They wouldn't if I came in like this."

"Maybe if we went into a place with just women." Brown eyes lit up as Seth smirked. "Remember when you got those panties thrown at you while we were in the ring?"

Roman groaned. "Dude, don't remind me. I still don't know where those had been."

"Well they're _panties_ Ro. We all know where they've been."

Roman reached over and smacked him upside the head before leaving the kitchen and heading up to his room. He stopped by the living room long enough to pet Kevin, who had indeed taken the spot right on his chair. He took the stairs two at a time, making it up to his room just as his phone started to ring. "What now?" he muttered under his breath. He snagged the thing, his irritation melting away as he saw it was Dean. He hit the button to accept the call and put the device up to his ear. "Yo."

"Hey uh, can you come pick me up?"

Roman frowned. "The fuck you mean come pick you up? Aren't you in Vegas?" A sudden and dreadful thought filled him. "Oh god. You got arrested again didn't you?"

"What? No!"

"How am I supposed to bail you out from Florida?"

"I said no you son of a bitch!"

Oh right. That he had. "So what do you mean pick you up? Where the hell are you?"

"At the airport." Dean said this as if he already expected Roman to know this. He probably forgotten that he hadn't texted Roman to tell him he was coming. "I was going to rent a car to drive to your house, but I kind of spend enough money on rentals as it is. I was hoping you would just get me."

"Well yeah I can." Roman walked to his closet and pulled out the first shirt he could find. "But why are you even here? You said you wanted to go home."

"What, a man can't change his mind? I can't want to come spend time with my best friend instead?"

Dean's tone was way too defensive to make Roman believe he had come down to Florida for just him. But Roman didn't call him out on it. He just moved the phone away from his ear long enough to get his shirt on before returning it in place once again. "Yeah alright. We'll come get ya."

"We?" Dean was the one who was confused now. "What do you mean by we?"

"You'll see." Maybe keeping Dean in the dark wasn't the best of ideas, but Roman found himself wanting to surprise him. He had heard Seth's offer to Dean back in the hotel room. He had a feeling Dean had probably come all this way because he had changed his mind. He just wouldn't want to admit it. And that was fine and whatever. Roman knew that was just how he worked.

"Fucker." Dean didn't even try to pull the information out of him. He knew it was useless. "You just better hurry up. I'm hungry."

Roman promised to hurry before hanging up the phone. He slipped on some socks and shoes before going back down to the kitchen. Seth had taken the liberty of pouring Kevin his bowl of water while he had been gone. "We ready?" the two toned man asked.

"We gotta make a quick stop at the airport first," Roman informed him. "Then we can eat."

Seth frowned. "Why are we stopping at the airport?"

Roman almost told him, but then stopped himself. Fuck it. They could both be surprised. "You'll see." He clapped a hand on to Seth's shoulder and directed him to the door. "You'll see."


	16. Chapter 16

Dean tried to keep still as he waited for Roman to arrive. But even as he made the attempt, his foot started tapping and he kept fiddling with his phone. He had called AJ upon landing and now she kept sending him texts about the fight she and Paige were having about what kind of pet to get. Paige wanted to get another cat, but since they already had two, AJ was trying to make her get a dog instead. Dean personally was more of a dog person himself. Particularly big dogs, but as Seth had pointed out, he actually did like little dogs too. He doubted his opinion would really make a difference in the matter though. This was a fight AJ was going to have to ultimately win on her own.

Dean put his phone in his pocket and started pacing around. He was standing outside, looking like a damn jackass as everyone walked past him. He probably should have texted Roman while he had still been in Vegas to let him know he was coming. Roman could have gotten a head start on traffic before his plane had even landed. "Fuck." He shoved his hands into his pockets, gripping his phone once again. Maybe he could text Roman to tell him to hurry the hell up. It probably wouldn't do him any good, but it would at least give him something to do.

He had just gotten the phone out of his pocket when he saw Roman's car pull up. "Fucking finally." He put it away once again before grabbing his bags and walking to where Roman had stopped. He was so busy thinking about food that he didn't see that the front seat was occupied. Not until he actually opened the door and couldn't sit down because Seth was there. His eyes widened as Seth looked just as surprised to see him there too.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Their simultaneous questions made Roman laugh loudly. Blue and brown eyes looked towards him, both sets narrowing as he kept laughing. "What the hell is so funny Ro?" Dean asked.

Roman snickered more before answering. "You two look so stupid when you're surprised."

Dean and Seth exchanged a look. "I'd hit him for saying that, but I just made nice," Seth informed him. "I can't really go and ruin it now."

Well that answered the question as to why Seth was there. Dean hadn't expected Seth to come here to do that on his own accord. The surprise was a pleasant one. "I'll hit him later," Dean decided. He stepped back and closed Seth's door before opening the one to the backseat. He threw his bag on to the seat behind Roman before taking the one behind Seth. "I still get to pick the radio station," he declared as Roman pulled away from the curb.

Roman glared at him through the rear view mirror. "Who the hell said that?"

"I'm the guest," Dean reminded him.

"So? I'm the driver. Driver picks, remember?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "That's an outdated rule."

"You're only saying that because you're not driving."

"Why don't we let Seth decide for us?" Dean leaned forward and tapped Seth's shoulder until he turned around. "Who should pick? Me or Roman?"

Seth mulled that one over. "Can me picking an option?"

"No," Dean and Roman answered at the same time.

"Then I don't give a shit." Seth gave Dean's cheek a sympathetic tap. "You'll have to fight Ro yourself on this one."

Dean huffed and leaned back into his seat. That was not what he wanted to hear. He folded his arms across his chest as Roman kept he radio station he had on. "Can I at least pick where we eat?"

"As long as we like it too," Roman answered.

Dean groaned loudly. "You two aren't any fun."

"Well you dragging us somewhere we don't like for your own amusement doesn't sound like fun to us."

Dean wished he was sitting behind Roman's chair now. He would so be kicking the crap out of it right now.

"What about pizza?" Seth suggested. "We all like that."

Roman shook his head. "I'm not listening him bitch about me getting pineapples on mine."

"Dude! It's fucking gross!" Dean nearly gagged at the thought.

"You like pineapples!"

"It's sacrilege on pizza though!"

Roman looked back to glare at him. "You put fucking jalapenos in your scrambled eggs. Don't talk to me about sacrilege."

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, no pizza. How about Chinese?"

"Are you going to whine when you don't get to eat all the crab rangoon?"

Dean's question was met by a very long period of silence. "Why do you gotta break my balls?" Seth finally asked. "We made an agreement that the crab rangoon was all mine."

"Nobody agreed to that shit man." Dean raised his foot and nudged the back of Seth's chair with it. "Us tuning out your bitching doesn't equal agreement."

Roman snickered at the look on Seth's face. "Guys seriously. Where's somewhere we can go without one of us complaining about something?"

It took longer than it should have for either Dean or Seth to come up with an answer to that one. When they did though, they said it at the same time. "Barbecue."

Roman did a double take. "Solid choice, but don't do that shit. That time it was creepy."

Seth glanced back at Dean, who smirked. "Rooooman."

"No no no shut up." Roman tried to shrink back from the both of them even as he was driving. "Fucking hell. You two sound like little evil goblins or something."

"Rooooomaaaaan."

"You are a terrible influence on each other. I hope you know that."

"It's part of our charm," Dean declared.

The obscenities Roman muttered under his breath told how much he disagreed with that one.

* * *

The barbecue place Roman took them to was one they always frequented when they were a team. How it had become a designated spot for them Seth couldn't really remember. He hadn't been in it since the betrayal though, and judging from the fact that Roman and Dean had to look at a menu instead of just knowing what they wanted, he had a feeling it had been a long time since they had been there too. It wasn't something he planned to comment on though. Not when things were going so well. They got a booth in the corner of the restaurant, thankfully going unnoticed by the other people in the place. He and Dean were sitting on one side while Roman sat across from them. They had their food and their drinks, and Roman was in the midst of telling some story about him, Jimmy and Jey nearly getting their asses beat by an entire rival high school football team. The story was admittedly funny, though Seth found himself being more charmed by Dean's reaction to it. It was one he clearly had heard before, yet he still baited Roman into telling it. He was practically bouncing in his seat now, his rack of ribs forgotten as he kept throwing in details that Roman was forgetting.

"So we're running right, and we got like, a dozen guys behind us..."

"And Jimmy's still talking shit."

"Right. And we're totally going the wrong way from my car. So we gotta go into the woods and shit and -"

"Jey makes you hide in the poison ivy and you have a rash on your ass for a week."

Roman glared at Dean as Seth laughed. "First off, it was not on my ass. Let's get that straight. Second off, did I ask you to help me tell this story? Because I don't remember doing that."

"Well excuse me for not wanting you to leave out the best part." Dean picked up his ribs and started eating once again.

Roman rolled his eyes.

"So did they like, ever catch you?" Seth had to at least know how it ended. He wasn't going to let Dean and Roman's bickering deprive him of that.

Roman shook his head. "We hid until they stopped looking for us. It was too dark for them to really see where we were at. But we had the worst poison ivy ever. I swear, we had it for at least a week. And I couldn't tell Mom how I really got it, so I had to make her think I was dumb enough to roll around in it."

"Oh god." Seth didn't blame him for lying. He would have done the same thing if he had been in that position.

"Why the fuck am I the only one drinking beer right now?" Dean looked back and forth between Roman's Coke and Seth's water. "What the fuck guys? You're making me look like an alcoholic here."

Dean hadn't ever needed help looking like that, but Seth decided to not be the one to say it. "Water's better for you," was what he went with instead.

"Oh christ." Blue eyes rolled in exasperation. "You used to be more fun. What the hell happened?"

"Crossfit," Roman said before Seth could defend himself. "I think it was the Crossfit."

"Oh yeah," Dean agreed. "I think it killed the joy out of his life."

"It did not," Seth denied. "You two are so over-dramatic." He took a bite of his smoked turkey breast, nearly groaning when he saw Dean eyeing his plate. "What? What now?"

"What is that shit again?" Dean was pointing at his side dish, nearly sticking his finger right in it.

"Collard greens."

"...God damn it Seth." Dean scooped up a big forkful of his macaroni and cheese and tried to shove it in Seth's match. "Here. Let me save you from yourself."

Seth shook his head. "Dude no."

Dean frowned. "Why not?"

"You got it with jalapenos in it." Seth grabbed Dean's wrist and directed his hand away from his mouth. "Jalapenos don't go in macaroni and cheese."

"So says you." Dean ate the bite instead, chewing extra obnoxiously on it just to be annoying. "I say differently."

Of course he did. Seth expected nothing less from him. He wrinkled his nose as Dean kept chewing his food like a jackass, his hand finally coming up to slap the dirty blonde upside the head.

"Whaaat?" Dean had the nerve to look confused by the action. "What did I do?"

"You're a damn animal," Roman informed him. "That's what."

Dean stuck out his lower lip in a pout. It shouldn't have looked as cute as it did. He was a grown man who did not need to be pouting. Yet there he was, and here Seth was thinking he looked cute while doing it. Seth tried to shake the thought off, but it stayed, just like the lure of Dean's lip.

Oh fuck it.

Seth grabbed Dean by the head and turned him so they were facing once again. Dean started to ask what he was doing, but the kiss answered that quickly enough. He heard Roman groan, but he didn't really care. His attention was zeroed in on Dean returning the kiss. Dean's hand grabbed a fistful of his hair, holding him in place. The simple press of the lips was deepened, Dean's tongue demanding entrance into his mouth. Seth happily gave it, a low moan escaping him.

"Jesus tap dancing christ." A pair of ice cubes came flying across the table, one hitting Seth while the other got Dean. "Stop it. I'm not watching this bullshit."

Seth and Dean broke apart reluctantly. "Sorry," Seth said sheepishly.

"I'm not." Dean grabbed the ice cube that hit him (which had bounced off his cheek and landed on the table) and threw it back at Roman. "Fucking cockblocker. I'll get you for that shit."

"Try it and I'll Superman punch your ass into next week," Roman promised. "Believe that."

* * *

Once they got back to Roman's house, Seth grabbed Kevin and took him for a walk. Dean had thought about going with him, but the need to talk to Roman took over. He waited until Seth was gone before getting up off the couch and going into the backyard. Roman was sitting in one of the chairs by the pool. Dean pulled up another one and sat down next to him, already wishing they were back inside. It was stupidly humid out there. "I don't know why you have this thing if you don't even like to swim," he said, gesturing to the pool. "Isn't it kind of pointless?"

Roman shrugged. "It came with the place. And it's good for parties."

"Still though, we should probably teach you how to swim. Just to put it to use."

"I know  _how_  to swim. I just don't  _like_  to swim. There's a difference." Roman reached up and tightened his ponytail. "If you want to put it to use, then you can get in it. I'm not going to stop you."

Dean considered it, but didn't actually move. Maybe he would do it later.

"Coming to see me was a cover wasn't it?" Roman decided to finally bring up the elephant that had been sitting in the room the whole time. Seth had been upfront about why he had shown up, but Dean hadn't truly said and neither Roman or Seth had actually addressed it. Not until now anyway.

"Uhh...yeah." Dean looked away, feeling dumb all over again. "I um...I got home and I was just like...fucking lonely and shit. And then I kept thinking about what he said and shit. About me coming to see you but staying with you and I just uh..." He let his voice trail off, his shoulders shrugging with what went unsaid. "Is he like, actually staying here tonight?"

"If you want him to." The reply earned Roman a surprised look. "Dude, I hadn't even thought of all that. But if you want him to, I don't care. And if you don't, I'll tell him to go."

"But what about what you want? It's your place."

Roman shrugged. "I'm fine either way. I haven't minded having him around again."

Dean smiled softly. "Big change of pace there ain't it?"

Roman smiled back. "I'm not saying we're like, completely good again. I'm still gonna have my eye on him. But he was my brother. I missed him more than I really wanted to admit." He reached over and put a hand on the back of Dean's neck. "And he makes you happy."

"Oh god." Dean shrugged off Roman's hand. "Don't get sappy on me Ro. It's gross."

Roman snorted and ruffled his hair. "Sorry man." He pulled his hand back as Dean tried to smooth his hair back down. "What were you even going to say to him? When you showed up at his doorstep."

"I don't know," Dean admitted. "I didn't actually think that far ahead." He shifted around in his chair, hating how the heat was nearly making him stick to it. "AJ thought I should serenade him or something."

Roman smirked. "Of course she did. What did she suggest?"

"Nothing that I would ever sing in a million years." Dean wanted to just leave it at that.

"Oh god." Roman laughed and glanced down at his phone. "So Jimmy and Naomi invited me to come to the movies with them tonight. I was thinking that I would just go and you and Seth could do something together."

Considering that the others hadn't taken to the whole Seth being back in the mix as well as AJ and now Roman had, that was probably a good idea. "You're not afraid that we're gonna destroy your house or something?"

"Well unless you're planning on cooking, I think you two can manage not to do that." Roman snickered as Dean punched him on the arm. "Just don't fuck each other all over the place. I don't want to have to sanitize anything more than the guest room."

Dean punched his arm again. "Fucking jackass. We were never that bad."

Roman gave him an utterly insulted look. "I can't believe you're trying to lie to my face like this. You two used to be fucking terrible. Remember when you did it on Jey's table?"

"We were drunk!" Dean didn't care that the neighbor stepping into his backyard heard his defensive yell. "We didn't know what we were doing!"

"Fucking got your cum and nasty naked asses all over his poor new table." Roman shook his head in complete disapproval. "It was a nice table too. And then he had to burn it."

"He didn't have to burn it. He just was a big old baby about the whole thing." Dean stood up, not willing to stay out in the sticky heat any longer. "And if you don't stop being such a little asshole, we're going to do far worse to your table."

"What are we going to do to his table?"

Dean and Roman looked towards the gate. Seth had come back with Kevin, whom he was letting off the leash. Kevin ran right for Dean, putting his paws on his legs until the blonde picked him up and gave him the attention he wanted. "Nothing," Dean answered. "As long as Roman shuts the fuck up."

Seth looked at Roman, who just made a face at Dean. The younger man almost pushed for clarification, but then decided against it. He knew the kind of shit Dean and Roman threatened each other with, and he knew it was sometimes better to just not ask.

"Did you daddy give you a treat?" Dean turned his attention to Kevin, who wouldn't stop licking right underneath his chin. "I bet he didn't. He don't like anything good. He probably started making you eat yucky stuff made by Crossfit, didn't he?"

"I have not!" Seth looked completely offended. "He gets regular dog treats."

"Well now he's gonna have special ones." Dean started carrying Kevin towards the house. "I'm gonna fatten him right up."

"You are NOT gonna make my dog fat!"

"Oh yeah? Just watch me!"


	17. Chapter 17

"You're completely ruining my diet you know." Seth knew the words wouldn't have any effect on Dean, but he still had to say them. They were sitting on the floor in Roman's living room, watching Bob's Burgers as they went through the obscene amount of Taco Bell Dean had gotten for them. Seth had wanted to cook them something since Roman actually had semi-decent things in his house, but that had failed in a rather epic manner.

"Ruining is so not the right term." Dean still had a mouthful of taco as he spoke, meaning little bits of beef and lettuce went flying everywhere. Seth wrinkled his nose in disgust, which was a fact that went completely ignored by Dean. "I feel like I'm enriching it. Spoiling yourself is never wrong."

Seth could argue that, but he didn't. There was no point. Dean had no interest in listening. Instead he rolled his eyes and just ate his nachos. He knew this was ultimately was coming from a good place. Roman was out with Jimmy and Naomi for the night. They were going to the movies and out for drinks after. Dean had said they could have went, but he didn't want to and asked Seth to stay home and keep him company. Seth knew he was full of shit. There was no way he would have been willingly invited to the whole deal. Dean just didn't want him to feel that way. And as much as Seth hated the crap he was being fed, he appreciated the spirit of what Dean was doing.

"You know, it's really hard for me to watch Archer because of this show," Dean said as he gestured towards the TV. "Every time Roman puts it on, I'm just like, hey, why is Bob out of the kitchen? Why did he leave Linda and the kids? And when did he become better looking?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Voice actors do a lot of different work. You can't let that shit throw you off."

"Let? I'm not letting it. It just is." Dean grabbed one of the burritos and offered it to Seth. When he got a refusal, he shrugged and unwrapped it for himself. "Roman gets so fucking pissed off when he tries to watch it with me. He says I talk too much."

"You do talk too much." Seth snickered as Dean froze, a completely offended look washing over his face. "Well you do!"

"Fuck you very much." Dean moved his burrito to his other hand so he could elbow Seth in the ribs. "No I fucking don't."

"Do I even have to list all the times you've done it? Because we'll be here all night." Seth broke off a piece of chip to give to Kevin, who was sitting next to him and begging for some. "Like seriously."

Dean grumbled under his breath. He had no real defense beyond futile denial.

They finished off the rest of the food, Seth making Dean get up and throw away all the trash as he just barely managed to haul himself up on the couch. Dean came back a few minutes later, sitting down on one side of him while Kevin laid down on the other. They watched a couple more episodes, Dean rapidly getting more and more antsy as they went. He had too much energy in him to just sit and chill for the rest of the night. Seth tried to put his hand on his bouncing leg, but that didn't make him stop moving. "You wanna go out?" Seth finally asked.

Dean nodded.

"Where do you wanna go?"

A shrug was the answer to that.

"That's not helpful." Seth grabbed the remote and exited out of the Netflix app before shutting off the PS4 and the TV.

Dean groaned. "You can pick. I don't give a fuck." He frowned as he realized what he said. "Just don't make me go to the gym. I do enough of that already."

Seth rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna take you to the damn gym. I got a better idea."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"...You can wait and see."

Dean gave him a long, hard look. "I'm gonna regret giving you the choice aren't I?"

Seth grinned. "Maybe."

"Oh god help me..."

* * *

The trendy night club was one of the last places Dean would have picked if he had been deciding where they were going. The music was too loud, there were too many people, and the drinks were ridiculously priced. But since Seth was the one paying, he didn't find himself minding too much. He just drank the tequila, wrinkling his nose every time it went down his throat. He was usually the whiskey type. It was mostly his own personal preference, though it also had to do with Roman. When they went out drinking together, the older man absolutely refused to get tequila. It always ended up giving him the worst hangovers the next day. But booze was booze, and it wasn't in his nature to refuse any. "God, how do you even like this stuff?" he asked as he watched Seth down his own shot. "I never understood it."

Seth grinned. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Sure."

"I actually hate it."

Dean stared at him incredulously. "Then why the hell are we drinking it?"

"Because it makes you more likely to dance with me than anything else."

Dean frowned as he thought that statement over. A denial was on the tip of his tongue, but it didn't leave his mouth. Seth was right. Every time he had actually gotten up to dance at a club, it had been after he had drank tequila. "Fuck." He let out a long sigh. "Fucking tricky bastard."

Seth smirked. "What can I say? I wanna dance."

"And what if I say no?" Dean reached over and shoved Seth on the shoulder. "Huh? What if I say no just to spite your ass?"

Seth just continued to smirk. "You won't."

"You sound pretty confident there. What makes you so sure?"

The question was answered by another shot of tequila being pushed his way. He accepted it and downed it with ease. They didn't go as hard as they used to. They didn't want to get plastered. Not with them lacking a sober driver to get them home safely. Dean started to feel nicely buzzed though. The unnecessarily loud techno music that had been giving him a headache started to sound more pleasant. The amount of people around him stopped bothering him too. They didn't matter. He and Seth were in their own little world. Even in a place like this, everything around them could just fall away.

"Come on." Seth let Dean take one last drink before getting up and grabbing Dean's hand. "Let's go."

"Already? But I want more."

"You're gonna get drunk if you have more." Seth tugged on his arm impatiently. "Now come on. Dance with me."

Dean made a show of grumbling and cussing, but he still got up and allowed himself to be pulled out on the dance floor. Blue and purple strobe lights were going off, the flashes almost in time with the beat of the song. Dean slipped his arms around Seth's waist, pulling him in so his back rested against his chest while his ass rested against his groin. Seth's chuckle couldn't be heard over the music, though Dean did see his smile as the younger man turned his head to look at him.

"Don't even know why you object to dancing anyway." Seth had to yell to actually be heard. "All you do in the ring is wiggle around like you're Axl fucking Rose."

"I do NOT wiggle!" Dean pouted as he was just laughed at. "Fucking take it back you son of a -"

Seth's lips on his cut him off before he could finish. Dean melted into it, his body tingling from the electricity that shot through him. That's what Seth fucking did to him. That's what he had always done to him. He slipped into every part of Dean, making sure that there was nobody he wanted more than him. He didn't even mean to do it. Dean knew he didn't. But the result was still the same.

Their lips broke apart, but Seth kept his head turned to face Dean as he began to move. Even with the grip Dean had on him, he was the one leading the dance. Dean followed his actions, blue eyes wide as he stared at him. He didn't even hear the music. The music, the lights, the people - none of that was there. It was just them, together in this bubble. The electricity Seth had poured into him through the kiss was pulsing through his veins. It was too much. It was way too much, but he couldn't think to pull away. It was too addicting. He needed Seth. The realization scared the shit out of him. It was one thing to want someone. He could deal with that. He could at least somewhat control it. But needing someone? That was a whole different story. He didn't want to need someone. Needing someone left him open to be hurt. Seth himself had hurt him in the worst way. But that didn't change his feelings. There was no escaping them. He had tried, but his efforts had been in vain.

His hands turned Seth around so they were fully facing each other. Seth started to question him, but stopped when he saw the look in his eyes. Dean wanted to say something. It felt like he needed to say something. But the words completely failed him. He just stood there with his mouth hung open like an idiot until he kissed him. Fuck it. Fuck the words. He wasn't much good with them outside of promos. This was the best he could do. He hoped Seth would understand.

Seth's arms snaked around his neck as he arched his body into Dean's. Neither one of them noticed the looks they were getting from the people around them. Dean was too intoxicated by all things Seth. The way he eagerly kissed him back, his groin pressed against his, the way he shuddered as Dean's hands groped his ass...there wasn't a part of him that wasn't positively addicting.

Dean's lungs burned and ached for breath, but it was Seth who made the move to break the kiss. They panted for breath, their eyes locked together as they tried to get a hold of themselves. "You want to get out of here?" Seth asked.

Dean just nodded. That sounded like the best idea in the world.

* * *

The car ride back to Roman's house seemed like it dragged on forever, though Seth would be damned if he remembered much of it. He was the one who drove. He hadn't had as much booze, and Dean had been nearly vibrating by the time they had gotten out to the club parking lot. Letting him behind the wheel had seemed like a totally unsafe idea.

Roman still wasn't back by the time they got there. Seth was a bit surprised, though he didn't get very long to think about it. They had barely gotten through the front door before Dean was kicking the door shut behind them and pushing him against the wall. Their lips met again, the kisses even more desperate than the ones in the club. Dean's hands were already pulling at his shirt, trying to rip it off instead of slipping it off him normally. "Hold on," Seth mumbled. He grabbed Dean's wrists to stop him. "I like this shirt. Just let me do it."

Dean huffed, but acquiesced. Seth let go of Dean's wrists and slipped the shirt off. He dropped it down to the floor, making a mental note to try to get back out here and pick it up before Roman got home. He doubted that would actually happen, but the intention was at least there. That hopefully counted for something.

Dean slipped his own shirt off before closing back in on Seth. His mouth went to Seth's neck, kissing and sucking all along his throat before moving down to his chest. His hands tugged on Seth's belt, pulling it off and tossing it back so hard the buckle made a loud thump as it hit the wall.

"Dude, don't fuck up Roman's house." Seth tried to keep his tone a scolding one. He really did. "We can't be -" he let out a low groan as Dean's tongue teased one of his nipples. "Oh fucking hell."

Dean gently bit down, taking a moment to relish the noise Seth made before moving to the other one. His hands were busy with Seth's jeans now, impatience making him try to pull them down before they were even completely unbuttoned and unzipped.

"Come on." Seth had to take control again. It was tempting to let Dean do whatever he wanted to him right there. If they were somewhere that would have really just been the two of them, he would have let it happen. But Roman would surely be home at any time now. The one drunken threesome aside, Roman had no real interest in walking in on them. And he sure as hell wasn't looking to have the mood broken.

They stumbled through the living room and up the stairs, kissing and leaving the rest of their clothes behind as they went. Dean was far too impatient to wait on that front. Seth barely managed to slip into the bathroom to grab a bottle of lube Roman kept stashed there before he was dragged into the guest room Dean had claimed. The door was kicked shut behind them right before Seth found himself shoved up against it. Dean dropped down to his knees, kissint a quick trail down Seth's stomach before he took his cock into his mouth.

"Fuck!" Seth's hips involuntarily bucked. He heard Dean gag, but the older man didn't pull his mouth away. He just grabbed a hold of Seth's hips and started bobbing his head. "Oh fuck." Seth dropped the bottle of lube and reached down to grip his fingers in Dean's hair. Dean's mouth felt so good. He had almost forgotten how good it felt. Dean ran his tongue all over the length, humming and groaning to send waves of toe curling pleasure through Seth's body. "Dean...oh fuck." It was hard to say much else. He tightened his grip on Dean's hair and swallowed hard. "Dean I wanna..." he groaned and shuddered as Dean sucked him even harder. "Not yet. Not now. I wanna..." Dean's tongue probed at the slit and he swore he forgot his own name for a second. "Inside," he finally managed to gasp. "I need you inside me."

Dean froze, taking a very long moment before pulling his head back and looking up. For as eager and impatient as he had just been, he suddenly looked a lot more nervous. "We don't have to." Seth felt bad. Maybe he was pushing too much. "I just...you can forget I said it."

There was a very long moment as Dean thought it over. Finally he grabbed the bottle of lube Seth had dropped and stood up. He kissed Seth softly, whimpering a bit as Seth returned it. Seth swore he could feel how hard Dean's heart was hammering inside his chest.

"We still don't have to if you're not comfortable." Seth wanted to make sure that was abundantly clear.

"I...I want to." Dean struggled to get the words out, his sudden burst of nerves getting the best of him. "I just...fuck, I don't know." He shook his head, clearly getting angry with himself. "Forget it. It's stupid."

"It's not stupid."

"You don't even know what it is."

"But it's bothering you. It's not stupid." Seth cupped Dean's face with a single hand. "What is it? Just tell me."

Dean's eyes darted around, and Seth really wondered if he actually would say it. "Do you really want to do this?" he finally managed to ask. "I mean, not just this. I mean like...you're not gonna change your mind about wanting to be with me again, right?"

"No." Seth shook his head for emphasis. "I'm not." He grabbed Dean's face with both hands now. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

One could have called into question how good his promises were given his history, but Dean didn't. He just sort of nodded, kissing Seth yet again as they went for the bed. Seth dropped down first, scooting up towards the pillows and laying back. He spread his legs as Dean joined him, letting the older man settle between them. Seth's own heart was starting to beat faster. He hadn't ever thought he would actually be back in this position. Not after what he had done. Hell, part of him was still surprised that Dean was giving him the time of day, let alone actually taking him back. This almost felt like a dream. But if it was, it was one he sure as hell didn't want to wake up from.

Dean popped the cap off the lube and poured a large amount over his fingers. He slipped his hand between Seth's legs, circling Seth's entrance with the tip of one finer. He looked at him in a silent question of permission. Seth gave it with a nod. The finger slid in slowly, Dean's eyes focused on Seth's face. Seth moaned, his body arching towards the digit. "Dean..."

One finger became two, which soon became three. Dean fucked him with them slowly, crooking them every so often to hit the bundle of nerves that drew a loud moan from Seth's mouth. "Please." Seth didn't care that he was begging. He felt absolutely no shame in the matter. "I need you. God please..."

Dean removed his fingers and grabbed the lube again. He poured more on to the palm of his hand and rubbed it over his cock. He tossed the bottle aside after and wiped the excess off on the far side of the blanket. He positioned himself more fully between Seth's legs, the head of his cock resting against Seth's asshole. He looked at him again, another unspoken question of permission. Seth granted it with a nod. Dean pushed in slowly, both of them groaning at the feeling. Seth wrapped his arms around Dean, holding on to him tightly. Dean really hadn't started to move yet. He stayed still, hips flush against Seth's body. Seth planted soft kisses all along the column of his neck. "You can move." His voice was so soft that he didn't think Dean had heard him at first. "I'm good."

Dean just sorted of nodded. He pulled almost all the way out before thrusting back in. Seth moaned, his eyes fluttering shut. Dean kept going like that, slow but deep. The usual mantra of dirty words didn't come flowing out of the blonde's mouth. His lips stayed busy with kissing Seth all over his face. Seth wrapped his legs around Dean's waist, wanting to feel him even closer. Even deeper, if it was possible.

Seth felt Dean bury his face in the crook of his neck. The speed of his thrusts increased, though they didn't get harder. That didn't matter. Every jolt of pleasure still coursed through his whole body, making him moan and whimper Dean's name. His cock was unbearably hard, just begging for attention between his and Dean's bodies. But he couldn't bear to move an arm from around Dean to reach down and touch himself. He had to hang on to him. Absolutely everything in him screamed for him to hold on to him and not let go.

"Seth." Dean's voice was breathless and raspy in his ear. One of his large hands wrapped around Seth's cock and began to stroke it. "Cum for me. Cum for me baby."

That order had always done Seth in before, and tonight was no different. He came all over Dean's hand, his moan nearly echoing through the room. Dean's release quickly followed, spilling inside Seth's tight walls. His movements stilled, his cock remaining inside of Seth for the moment.

"Dean?" Seth opened his eyes. Dean's face was still buried in the crook of his neck.

Dean pulled his face back, his eyes meeting Seth's. His face was a myriad of emotions. There was so much, but Seth knew he wouldn't say them. Not yet. Actually saying certain stuff was hard for him. But Seth knew them just the same.

"I love you." Seth said what he knew Dean wouldn't. He had to say it. He needed Dean to know it. The truth he had denied to himself for the year they were separated had to be out.

Dean swallowed hard. The confession scared him. But it wasn't enough to make him run. He slipped out of Seth and kissed his forehead, gesturing for him to stay put as he got off the bed. He left the room briefly, returning cleaned off and with a rag so Seth could do the same. He watched Seth wipe himself off, waiting until the rag was tossed aside before joining him back on the bed.

"Do you want me to -" Seth blinked, his question answered by Dean snuggling up to him and resting his head against his chest. "Ah. Okay. Forget my question." Seth wrapped an arm around him, smiling as he felt Dean drape an arm and a leg over him. "We shouldn't leave our clothes laying around out there. That's rude to Roman."

"Don't care," Dean mumbled. "We'll say sorry later."

"Sorry's not gonna get us out of a lecture."

"Do you really wanna get up?"

Seth shook his head, forgetting that Dean wasn't actually looking at him. But his silence still answered the question well enough.

"Good. I don't either." Dean tightened his hold on him. "Now go the fuck to sleep."


	18. Chapter 18

"Guys, this is starting to get ridiculous." Roman fancied himself a patient man. He really did. He had spent the past couple of days enduring Dean and Seth being in their doing it like bunnies honeymoon stage and hadn't really complained. But now they were going to miss their flight if they didn't get going. Granted, it was only a house show they were going to. But they would still be in trouble if they missed just because Seth and Dean couldn't stay away from each other's dicks. "Come on." He knocked on the bedroom door, not fooled by the lack of answer he was currently getting. The trail of clothes ended right here, so he knew damn well they were in there. "You can't keep going like this. Aren't you guys tired? Don't your dicks need a break?"

"Just...oh fuck...just give us like ten more minutes!" Dean's request was punctuated with an obnoxiously loud groan.

Roman rolled his eyes. "You said that two hours ago!" He pounded a fist against the door, hoping the loud noise would really break their mood. "You got to the count of three and then I'm coming in there."

"Don't do it Roman."

"One." Roman grabbed the door handle and gave it a test twist. They had forgotten to lock it, which meant he didn't have to break it down. That was a plus. "Two." He waited for a moment, hoping they were actually putting clothes on. "Three!" He opened the door and no, they were not fucking putting clothes on. They were both still naked, with Seth settled between Dean's legs, his mouth wrapped around his dick. Dean had his hands in Seth's hair, his fingers twisting and pulling on it as he moaned. "Oh come on!" Roman threw his hands up in exasperation. "Seriously guys? Fucking seriously?"

"I told you not to do it." Dean didn't look ashamed while Seth didn't bother to slow down. Neither really had any inhibitions anyway, and that fact was even more pronounced when it was just Roman who was looking. "Can't say I didn't warn you."

"And I told you to knock it the hell off." Roman averted his eyes, not wanting to see this right now. If he kept looking he would actually strangle them. Or maybe (and he nearly blushed thinking this) join in. It had been way too long since he had gotten laid last, and this crap was starting to remind him of that. "I'm not getting fined because of you two. Just get up and get moving."

"I just...fuck just give us a couple more minutes." Dean gave Roman a pleading look. "We'll make it up to you, I swear."

"...Oh fucking hell." Roman turned on his heel and walked out of the room. This wasn't a fight he could win. "You better make it good then!" he called back to them. "Or I'm whooping both of your asses!"

* * *

Dean hummed under his breath as he walked down the hallway. Thanks to his disregard of the speed limit, they had managed to get to the airport just in time and not miss their flight. Roman still wasn't entirely happy with them though. He kept muttering things about spraying them with a hose or getting them fixed. Dean took that to mean as they still owed him, which was fine. He was already working on shit. They still had a little bit of time before the show, so he had sent Seth and AJ to the store to buy all the snacks and cheap beer that they could while he went around inviting people to the little party he was looking to throw. He told them it was in Roman's honor, though he didn't bring up the fact that it was thanking him for letting him and Seth fuck so much in his house. That was a fact he wanted to try to keep close to his own chest. It wasn't out of any sense of shame; he just didn't want everyone to think that it was actually any of their business. The only other person who got to have a valid opinion on the subject of him and Seth was Roman. Everyone else could get bent.

"Jimmy! Jey!" Dean spotted the twins walking away from one of the seamstresses. He jogged to catch up to them, nearly trampling over little JoJo in the process. He mumbled a quick apology, but didn't really stop. Instead he kept his attention on Jimmy and Jey, who had stopped to wait for him.

"The hell you want?" Jimmy asked. He already had his face paint on while Jey still had to do his.

"I'm throwing a party for Roman later," Dean replied. "And since you're his family, you're like, legally obligated to show up to it."

Jey raised his eyebrows. "You're throwing a party for Roman?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"But you hate people. And parties."

Dean frowned. "Hate is a little bit of a strong word. Strongly dislike is more accurate."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever. My bro's point still stands." He gave Dean a suspicious look. "Did you fuck up somehow? Is that why you're doing this?"

"No. Can't I just want to do something nice for my friend?"

Jimmy and Jey exchanged looks. "He definitely did something," Jimmy declared.

"Oh yeah," Jey agreed.

"I wonder if Roman knows."

"Oh he has to. He's no dummy."

Dean huffed loudly. This was not going the way he had planned. "You two could just not come if you're gonna be little assholes. That'll just mean more beer for me."

"Now hold the hell up. We didn't say we wouldn't come." The threat of missing out on the beer shut Jimmy right the hell up. "We're just playing with you."

"Yeah man." Jey reached over and clapped a hand on Dean's shoulder. "We like beer, we like Rome and we sort of like you. We'll be there."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Thanks guys. I appreciate that." He slipped away from them and kept walking. The only person he really had to find now was Dolph. He had thought the bleached blonde was going to be on this show, but hadn't had any luck finding him. "Fucking hell," he muttered. He was getting sick of just wandering around backstage. Maybe he needed to bite the bullet and get his phone, which he had left out in the car. Just texting the question would be a lot easier.

He turned and started walking towards the doors that would get him to the parking lot. His mind wandered as he went, his attention to his surroundings rapidly dwindling. It wasn't until he ran into someone that he even noticed how badly he spaced out. An apology was at the tip of his tongue until he saw who it was. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Stephanie McMahon wasn't the least bit bothered by the question. "Hello to you too Dean." She smoothed down the front of her business suit, her lips turned up in a smirk. "It's actually nice to see you again."

Dean did not believe that sentiment, nor shared it. "Aren't you supposed to be all nice and fucked off now? I mean, since your dear hubby embarrassed your family by losing to Sting."

The smirk did fade at that jab. "For your information Ambrose, I'm here on official business."

"You gonna go suck Regal off and see if he gives up his general manager position? Because Maddox tried that not too long ago and ate that load for nothing."

The slap to the face was completely expected. And despite how he tried not to show it, it really fucking hurt. She stormed off immediately after, leaving him to stand there with a stinging face and an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Stephanie being here was not a good thing. Maybe she didn't have any kind of power, but there was no way she was up to anything good. And if she was around, Hunter probably was too. What if they were trying to get the Authority back together? What if Vince had gotten over his issues with them and put them back in charge? What if they wanted to bring Seth back into their fold?

That last thought made his blood run cold. He and Seth were just getting in the groove of being back together. He couldn't lose him again. He couldn't handle that. He would actually go crazy if it happened again.

_That's even if they want Seth back. He went on such a bad losing streak after they left they probably won't want him anymore._

Dean didn't know if that thought process was in any way correct, but it slightly eased the anxious knot in his stomach, so he was going to go with it for now.

* * *

The hotel room wasn't nearly big enough. That was the fact Seth kept coming back to. Even with the beds pushed up against the wall and the snack table moved out to the room's little fenced in porch area, it still really wasn't big enough for all the people Dean had invited. Besides himself, Dean and Roman, there was AJ, Neville, Paige, Dolph, Jimmy, Jey, Tamina, Emma, Finn Balor (who had been brought up to work the weekend's house show against Tyler Breeze - who had thankfully not been invited), Natalya, Cesaro, Alicia Fox, Tyson Kidd, Lilian Garcia and Erick Rowan, who had been brought by Dolph because he needed to "socialize" or something. A very nice turnout overall, but they should have booked a better room. A suite would have cost more, but it would have been worth it to be rid of the claustrophobic feeling that was taking Seth over.

A hand grabbed his and squeezed tightly. Seth didn't have to look to know it was Dean. He squeezed it back, smiling softly to himself. They had been trying to hold back on doing too many displays of public affection. They didn't want to be cause a problem by being obnoxious. Well, he didn't at least. Dean wasn't one to usually care. But tonight it was different. Something was bothering him. It had been for the whole show. Seth had wanted to get it out of him, but there hadn't been a real chance for him to do it. He and AJ had gotten stuck in traffic and had barely made it back to the arena before the first match had started. There had been in no chance to take Dean aside and try to find out what was wrong. It would have to wait for when they were in bed tonight.

"Guys!" AJ waved her hands wildly to get their attention. She was sitting on the floor with Roman, Paige, Dolph, Emma and Neville. They were all sitting in a circle with an empty beer bottle right in the middle. "Come here! Naomi and Jimmy won't play so come here!"

Dean frowned. "She's not thinking what I think she's thinking is she?" He looked to Seth hopefully. "Seth?"

Seth shook his head and gave Dean's hand another squeeze. "I think she's thinking exactly you think she's thinking."

Dean groaned. "Oh god. Do we really have to go over there?"

"Are you going to tell her no?"

The look on Dean's face answered that one. Seth led him over there, sitting them between Roman and Emma. "Spin the bottle?"

"Yep!" AJ said happily. 'And I'm going first." She reached forward and grabbed the bottle. "Nae, are you sure you don't want to join?"

"I'm sure!" Naomi was on the other side of the room, talking to Tamina. "I ain't kissing any of you people."

"Party pooper!" AJ stuck out her tongue for good measure before turning her attention back to the task at hand. She gave the bottle a spin, bouncing eagerly as she watched it. "No whammy no whammy no whammy - YES!"

"Oh my god." Paige looked mortified as it landed on Roman.

"I don't suppose I can just kiss your cheek?" Roman guessed.

"We gotta lay it on each other." AJ crawled over to him and grabbed the front of his shirt. "It's the proper way to play."

Roman sighed, resigning himself to his fate. AJ smashed her lips on his, possibly even slipping in a little tongue. Seth couldn't say if she did or not, but knowing her it was likely. Roman was a bit more restrained, though her enthusasim got to him towards the end. The instant his hands touched her though, Paige was pulling AJ back and putting her back in her spot.

"That's quite enough of THAT!" Paige gave Roman a dirty look before shooting one to AJ herself. "Is that how we're going to play? Because I can play it that way." She grabbed the bottle and spun it now.

Not me, Seth prayed. If it landed on him he was fairly certain she would just bite his face off instead. Not me not me not me...

It landed on Emma, who received a hell of a kiss from Paige. AJ pouted and yanked her off, not pleased at the turnaround. Neville went next, who got Dolph as his person.

"I feel like I should like, get a breath mint or something," Nevile said as he started to lean in.

"Eh." Dolph smirked a bit. "I've kissed Ambrose while he's had his rancid morning breath before, so..."

"My morning breath is not rancid!" Dean claimed.

"Oh fuck you, yes it is," Roman shot back.

"It can get pretty gnarly," Seth agreed.

Dean glared at them. "I wasn't actually asking for your opinions."

"Well we gave them anyway." Seth watched Dolph and Neville's kiss, which was the tamest of them all at this point. "Does that really count as laying it into each other?"

"It's going to," Dolph declared. He looked at Roman, who didn't look too eager for his turn. "Go for it bud."

Roman muttered something unintelligible under his breath. He spun the bottle, his eyebrows raising as it landed on Seth.

"Don't get shy now boys." AJ was positively delighted now. "Give us a show."

Seth rolled his eyes and leaned over and initiated the kiss. He kept it gentle, just using enough effort to keep AJ from getting pissed. "How's that?" he asked as they pulled back.

Roman smirked. "I've had better."

"Oh like fuck you have." Seth smacked him on the chest before giving the bottle a spin. "I'm the best damn person you've -" he stopped as the bottle landed on Dolph. "Oh boy."

"Son of a bitch." Dolph looked at AJ. "Do we have to?"

"No passes," AJ confirmed.

Well fuck. Seth sighed and leaned over toward him. They eyed each other warily before reluctantly pressing their lips together. The awkwardness shot up to a whole different level the moment they did it.

"Oh come on!" AJ objected. "Dolph, he stole Dean from you! Seth, he used to bang Dean! Kiss each other like you're going to have some really angry sex about it!"

"AJ!" Paige groaned.

Seth broke the kiss and shook his head. "No angry sex kissing."

"Hell no." Dolph wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. "We're good like this."

"Oh I'm not worth angry sex kissing?" Dean let out an insulted huff. "Thanks for nothing guys."

"Just spin the damn bottle." Seth lightly elbowed him in the gut.

Dean did just that. It landed on Neville, who smirked. "Do you want me to angry sex kiss you?"

"Is it on the menu elf boy?"

"Elf...oh come on! I don't look like an elf Dean!"

Dean laughed and then kissed him. The game continued, Finn and Alicia eventually joining in. Seth managed to avoid gettng Dolph and Paige while actually getting Dean on a few of his turns. There were a few accusations that he was cheating, but he really wasn't. Not intentionally anyway.

"Boys." Roman snapped his fingers during one of said turns. "Dudes, come on. We're not here to watch you carry on."

"Speak for yourself," said Alicia. She and AJ were openly leering.

Seth reluctantly pulled back despite Dean's efforts to not let him. The whole not being obnoxious thing had gotten thrown right out the window. He licked his kiss swollen lips and grinned at Dean, who smiled back at him.

Paige groaned loudly. "Get a room."

"Technically, this is our room," Dean pointed out. "You're all just in it."

"Well get a different room."

"We will then." Dean stood up before pulling Seth with him. "Come on."

"No no no!" AJ smacked her hand against the floor as Seth allowed himself to be draggd to the batrhoom. "Boys get back here! Boys!"

They slipped into the bathroom, Seth laughing as he closed the door. "Fucking finally." He put himself back first against the wall and pulled Dean into another kiss. Dean returned the kiss eagerly, moaning as his hands slipped up under Seth's shirt. Seth shivered, loving the way Dean's fingers felt against his body. "Fuck Dean." He tried to keep himself somewhat quiet, not wanting someone to come and interrupt them.

"Wanna get out of here?" Dean asked in between kisses. "We can say we're going to get more beer."

Seth knew nobody would actually believe that excuse. It didn't really matter to him though. The agreement started to leave his mouth when his phone went off. "The hell?" He pulled it out of his pocket. "Everyone's right in the next room. Who...oh god."

"What?" Dean took the phone and frowned at the number on the screen. "Who is it?"

Seth swallowed hard. Despite having long deleted the name out of his phone, he still recognized that number. He wished he didn't. God how he wished he didn't. "It's...it's Hunter."


	19. Chapter 19

"So he didn't answer the call?" Roman asked as he watched Dean pace back and forth. The party was over, leaving the two of them to talk. Seth was in the shower, his phone sitting on the table. He had insisted on Dean and Roman keeping it with them. He wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't want them thinking that he was talking to Hunter in secret. It was a move that was much more effective than just vehemently denying that he had anything more to do with his former Authority brethren. But that didn't mean Roman was at ease. It was hard to be, considering everything that had happened before.

Dean shook his head. His face was pale, his features completely tense.

"Has he gotten any other calls from him?"

"He said no."

"Did you check his texts? His call history?" Roman normally didn't condone snooping, but this time he was going to make an exception.

Dean nodded. "There's nothing."

"You don't think he just deleted anything?"

"I...fuck Ro. I don't know." Dean stopped moving and rubbed his hands over his face. "I saw Stephanie at the arena earlier. I fucking knew right that something was up."

Roman chose not to ask why Dean hadn't brought that up earlier. That wasn't really important. "Did you get any idea of what that was?"

"Knowing her and Hunter? They want back in charge."

Roman groaned. That sounded fucking horrible. "Is it bad that I thought the Sting thing would have done them in for good?"

"Yeah," Dean grunted. "It's too fucking optimistic."

That it was. Roman sighed and laid back on the bed he was sitting on. "Fuck!" He smacked his hand against the mattress for emphasis. There was nothing good that was going to come from this. What if Seth got weak again and went back to Hunter and Stephanie? Dean would lose his mind completely this time around. But even if Seth said no, they weren't the type to take rejection well. They would find a way to hurt him which in turn would hurt Dean. Or they would directly target Dean to get back at him, because there was no way they weren't going to find out they were back together. It was the most talked about thing in the locker room.

Dean sat down on the bed with him. Roman watched his face carefully. His expression was a mix of things Roman didn't like. He had been so happy the past few days. For the first time in a year, he had been so fucking happy. And now all of that was in jeopardy. Roman couldn't let it go all to hell again. He had to find a way to keep this all together. He just had to.

"Come here." Roman pulled Dean down so he was laying down to. He locked an arm around him and moved his head so it was resting against his chest. "It's not going to be like it is before. We're not going to lose him again." He waited to see if Dean would say anything, whether it be agreement or argument. Dean gave neither.

Roman decided that meant to keep going. "I think he knows better this time. It wasn't worth it last time so why do it again? He's not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice." Roman hoped that was the case anyway. The Seth he had come to know during their time in the Shield had always seemed that way to him. That had all gone to shit obviously, but maybe this time it would be different.

Dean still didn't say anything. He just kept his head on Roman's chest, his fingers rubbing circles over his stomach.

"Do you need to put some space between the two of you? Until we get this sorted out?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No but...it's too late now isn't it?" Dean sat back up and let out a small laugh. "I'm already in too deep."

"You're not."

"I am Ro. I've always been in too deep with him." He rubbed the back of his neck. His eyes were clouded over with an unreadable expression. "I just...he was all I wanted, even after all that shit he did. I can't let him go. I won't." He shook his head for emphasis. "I'll fucking burn this entire company to the ground if I have to."

"Why the fuck are we gonna have to do that?"

"Well Hunter and Steph can't do their evil stealing my boyfriend schemes if they don't have a company to try to take back over." Dean raised his eyebrows as Roman laughed. "And what's this we shit? You gonna help me destroy the company you're champion of?"

"If it comes down to it." Roman reached up and patted Dean on his chest. "I'm with you till the end of the line."

"...The fact that you just quoted Captain America on me means you are now the biggest nerd I fucking know."

"Oh come on!" Roman let out an insulted huff. "You've seen the people we work with. I'm not the biggest nerd."

"Oh you definitely are." Dean reached over and patted his cheek sympathetically. "It's okay though. I think I can still love you."

Roman rolled his eyes. He didn't know what else he had expected. "Oh fuck you Dean."

"Only if I get to watch!" Seth yelled from the bathroom.

Roman slapped a palm to his forehead while Dean laughed obnoxiously.

* * *

Neither Hunter or Stephanie were at the house show the next day, which was the good news. The bad news was they still tried calling Seth's phone. He had made sure it stayed in either Dean or Roman's possession at all times. He wanted to show them he had no interest in even seeing what his former Authority brethren wanted. He felt sick even just thinking about them. He should have never listened to them in the first place. That was stupid. He had been so fucking stupid. He had ruined everything good in his life the first time around, and there was the possibility he could lose it all again. Even with avoiding Hunter and Stephanie, there was the possibly that Dean would get too scared of being fucked over and bail. Seth wouldn't be able to blame him, but he prayed it didn't happen. He had just gotten Dean back. He didn't want to lose him again.

By the time Raw started, everyone knew that Hunter and Stephanie were around again. And they all kept looking at Seth, just openly expecting him to be running back to their arms. He did his best to ignore them, though his skin still crawled from the weight of all their stares. The only thing that helped was the fact that Dean had a hold of his hand and wasn't letting go. His grip was actually too tight, but the look on his face discourages Seth from saying anything. He just let it be, at least grateful that Dean's murderous expression was scaring everyone from making comments at him. Even Roman wasn't daring to say shit. The three of them just sat in Roman's locker room with Jimmy, Jey, Naomi, Paige and Dolph, their attention mostly on the monitor. AJ was wrestling Alicia Fox to start off the show. It wasn't for the title; AJ had just come off a successful title defense on Smackdown where she defeated Brie Bella and Summer Rae. Regal just put her out there front and center first thing since they were in New Jersey tonight and he wanted to get the crowd going.

"Come on...come on...YES!" Paige pumped her fist into the air as AJ hooked in the Black Widow. "You got her babe. You got her."

"You know she can't hear you, right?" Jey asked.

"Tap you fucking bitch." His comment went completely ignored. "Come on come on you - YES!" Paige jumped up this time, arms raised in victory as Alicia tapped. "That's right, my girlfriend's the best."

"Until I get in the ring with her," Naomi commented.

Paige turned to sneer at her. "I'm sorry, who did she beat for the divas title back in FCW?"

Naomi was not impressed. "Do you know how long it took for her to manage that?"

Seth tuned out the argument, keeping his attention focused on AJ celebrating in the ring. He didn't see what happened next coming. Maybe he should have, given that she was back and knowing she hated AJ. But he still found himself surprised as the camera panned back to show Stephanie standing on the ring apron. "What the fuck..."

AJ momentarily froze as she caught sight of the older woman. Then her expression twisted and she went for her. She never got to touch her. Charlotte ambushed her from behind, taking her knee out from behind.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Paige's thunderous yell made everyone jump. She bailed right out of the room, surely sprinting to go make the save.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Jimmy looked to Seth like he would have the answer.

Seth just shook his head. He didn't know what to say. He knew Hunter was still tight with Ric Flair, so pulling his daughter into whatever scheme he and Stephanie had going wasn't really a surprise. But what was the point? Whatever they wanted had to be bigger than just the divas title. There had to be something more.

They all watched as Paige hit the ring just as Charlotte was unhooking the Figure Eight she had locked AJ in. The blonde tried to escape, but Paige was right on her, fists flying furiously. Stephanie was yelling and Regal was coming down the ramp, waving security and referees past him to break it up. Seth didn't think they were going to manage it. Paige was absolutely incensed and determined to tear Charlotte apart. They finally managed it though, half of them managing to direct Paige into checking on AJ while the rest escorted Stephanie and Charlotte away. AJ was holding her knee, the look on her face telling the story of the damage that had been done.

"Fuck," Seth muttered. He was the one squeezing Dean's hand now, his stomach twisting horribly. His mind and gut were telling him that this was only getting started. The night was surely only going to get worse from here.

* * *

Dean chewed on his lower lip as he paced around anxiously. This wasn't a good night. Not by a long shot. The debut of Charlotte hadn't been the end of Hunter and Stephanie's little surprises. Tyler Breeze had shown up to answer John Cena's US open challenge. Hunter had appeared towards the end of the match, helping secure the victory for Prince Pretty. Baron Corbin had interrupted a match between Neville and Rusev to lay out both of them. Hunter and Stephanie had both been there for that one, cheering on like proud parents. It was becoming clear that even without officially being in power (as far as anyone knew anyway), they were building a stable to take over. It was brilliant really. Hunter had the entire NXT roster to pick from. He had been able to whisper in their ears, much like he had with Seth. He slithered in, surely promising them fame and glory and all that shit if they just sold their souls.

Now Seth was out there, wrestling a match against Bryan. Dean knew what everyone expected. They had made it clear before the show had even started. All of that wasn't helping Dean's mood. It was making it worse actually. Having to stay back here and just see how the match was going to play out was just cementing his nasty mood. For as much as Hunter had been calling over the weekend, he was surely going to make his presence known. He was going to try to get at Seth somehow. And Dean didn't know what was going to happen. He knew what Seth said he would do. Before he had gone out there, he had told Dean that he would tell Hunter to fuck off if he came out. Dean hoped that would happen. He prayed that he wasn't being misguided in putting his trust in Seth again. But there was still doubt. He couldn't help it. He loved Seth. He had forgiven Seth in spite of his usual stance on that sort of thing. He wanted to be able to fully trust him again. But the doubt was still there. How could it not be? Everything that had happened before kept running through his head. It scared him. He was so fucking scared and he hated it. He wanted to just run. To hide. To fucking just get as far away as possible but he couldn't. He stayed in this room, ignoring Roman's attempts to get him calmed down. The others were gone, choosing to stay in AJ and Paige's locker room. Some of it was out of real concern for her. She was pretty rattled and battered after Charlotte's attack. But the rest of it was just because they were wary of Dean and his mood. They didn't want to be too close if he did go off.

The bell rang, snapping Dean out of his thoughts. He had missed the finish, but Seth was laying flat on the mat with Bryan standing tall. "Fuck," Dean muttered. That hadn't been the result he wanted to see.

"It was real close," Roman informed him. "Only reason he lost was because he came down weird when he missed the curbstomp. It distracted him just enough to where Bryan got him with the knee."

Dean just sort of nodded. His movements had stilled now, his eyes focused on the screen. Bryan was vacating the ring, leaving Seth to pick himself up off the mat. Hunter's music hit, just like Dean figured it eventually would. His heart sank. Oh god...here we go...

"Seth...Seth, Seth, Seth." Hunter had a microphone in hand already. He's shaking his head, looking and sounding like a disappointed father. "What happened to you? How did you become this person who can't win a match to save his life? You're better than this. I know you are."

Seth pushed himself up to his feet, his expression unreadable even for Dean. He staggered to the far side of the ring and reached a hand out for a microphone. Lilian handed him one, and he gave her a little nod before walking as close as he could to Hunter without getting out of the ring. "The hell are you doing Hunter? Was me not answering your calls a big enough hint for you?"

"Oh it was a pretty big hint," Hunter admitted. He still had a smug look on his face that Dean didn't like at all. "I was just hoping you'd be more reasonable if I got to you in person." He took a few steps closer, stopping when he was about a forth of the way down the ramp. "I told you last year that all you needed was the right people behind and you would go further than you ever could on your own. You shouldn't be outshined by a lug who has less moves than Cena -"

"Oh fuck off with that shit," Roman growled.

" - or a lunatic that's lucky he's not in jail like his father, or dead in the gutter like that whore he called a -"

"Shut up!" Seth's snarl was so loud that Dean swore he saw every person in the audience wince. "Just shut up! You leave him out of this!"

"Alright alright alright." Hunter put the hand that wasn't holding the microphone up as an act of surrender. "Listen, forget about them alright? Just listen to me."

"No."

"Seth, you need to -"

"Fuck you Hunter." And there he actually did say it. The censors were going to be pissed as hell for it "I already listened to you once and it was the biggest mistake I ever made. I'm not doing it again." He pointed to Hunter, brown eyes blazing with anger. "You can take your offer and your little pet projects and shove them straight up your ass."

The crowd roared its approval. Dean felt like joining them. The elation over Seth's words made Dean miss the gleam in Hunter's eyes.

"That's unfortunate Seth." Hunter shook his head, not looking as sad as he was trying to make himself sound. "It really is. I always did like you. But that's fine." He smirked and Dean felt his blood turn cold. "It's like I once said: there's always a plan B."

Much like the year before, it didn't take long for them to find out what plan B was. It didn't come in the form of a betrayal. It didn't even need a steel chair. It instead came in the form of Kevin Owens, who grabbed Seth from behind and turned him around. A stiff boot to the gut, a push into the ropes and then Seth was flying up in the air, only to come crashing down in a brutal pop-up powerbomb. It happened so fast that Dean didn't even get a chance to move. Instead he was left to just watch as Kevin put his foot on top of Seth and raised his NXT title up high in the air. The fans booed, some doing it just because he was clearly associated with Hunter, while the others knew exactly who this monster was. He was the man who beat Neville right out of NXT. He had beaten Alex Riley to a pulp just because he could. He had betrayed Sami Zayn, his own best friend, and then put him on the injured list not once but twice. He was probably the only person who had a sadistic streak comparable to Hunter's.

Dean suddenly had a hard time believing Owens would ever be just a plan B. This whole thing now smelled like a set up.

"Dean..." Roman's voice made Dean realize he was now actually moving. The older man was following close behind him. "Dean don't do something stupid."

He wasn't. He was just going to pick Seth up off the floor, make sure he was alright and then kill Owens and Hunter.

Or maybe he would do Hunter and then Owens.

Whoever he got his hands on first worked for him.


	20. Chapter 20

Seth winced as he rubbed the back of his neck. That and his head were still killing him. Raw was long over and he was crammed in the backseat of Paige's rental car. Dean and AJ sat on either side of him while Paige drove and Roman sat in the passenger's seat. The ride had been uncomfortably quiet so far. Nobody was in the mood to say much. Seth really wasn't either, but he almost wished that the others would either talk or turn the radio on. The silence was really starting to get to him.

"Are we there yet?" AJ seemed to read his mind and spoke up.

"We got about another hour," Roman informed her.

"Is your knee bothering you again?" Paige cast a worried look through the rearview mirror. "Do you need something for the pain? Do I got to pull over?"

AJ shook her head. Seth thought she was at least somewhat lying, but didn't call her out on it. "I'm just bored." She stuck out her lower lip and huffed in discontent. "There's nothing to look at when it's dark."

"You can play a game on my phone if you promise not to break it." Roman turned in his seat so he could hand it back to her.

"Me? Break a phone?" AJ shook her head as she took it. "Come on. I'm not Dean. Give me more credit than that."

Seth looked at Dean, hoping he would take the bait and get into some banter with her that would lighten the mood. It didn't happen. Dean kept his gaze out the window, his jaw set tightly in a scowl. Seth sighed and squeezed the older man's hand. He knew what he was thinking. He was looking to rip off heads. He hadn't been able to get his hands on Hunter or Kevin. The two of them had disappeared and hadn't been seen since Seth had gotten attacked. They all knew that wouldn't last too long. They still had a Smackdown taping to get through, so odds were they would show up there. Seth was completely dreading it. He knew Dean was going to do something violent and stupid the moment he got a chance. And there was no way in hell it was going to end well. Dean was one of the toughest people Seth knew, but the violent roll that Kevin Owens had been on since arriving in WWE was enough to make Seth sick over the thought of Dean trying to fight him. All it would take was one little mistake and it wouldn't just be a lost match. Dean would get hurt, and hurt badly.

Dean looked down at their joined hands, seemingly just noticing that they were being held. Seth waited, hoping he would say something. Having him be so quiet for so long didn't feel right. "Should have taken you to the hospital," Dean finally grumbled.

Seth rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. I don't need a damn hospital."

"You keep rubbing your neck."

"It's sore. I'll get over."

"Could be broken."

"It ain't broken." Seth saw that Dean was about to argue more and decided to cut him off. "Come on. Would you go if you were me?"

"That's not even the point," Dean grumbled. "I'm the last person you should fucking copy with this shit."

That was true, but Seth wasn't budging. He had been to the trainer. He had gotten ice and popped some Tylenol. He could get by with that.

Dean gave him an unhappy look before looking back out the window. Seth shared a glance with Roman, who just shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what to say either. Seth sighed and dropped his head down on Dean's shoulder. Dean stayed still for a moment before moving just enough to plant a kiss on Seth's forehead. Seth smiled softly to himself. It was too mushy to say out loud, but in that moment, the kiss made him feel like everything was going to be alright.

* * *

"You can't fight Kevin."

Dean narrowed his eyes at Seth. They were finally at the hotel, the two of them laying together while Roman was passed out in the bed next to them. They were supposed to be sleeping themselves, but that hadn't happened yet. Dean had gotten stuck on fussing over Seth while Seth was getting started on this. "I can do whatever I god damn please." He propped himself up on his elbow as he continued to glare. He was on his side while Seth was on his back. "Fucker needs his ass kicked."

"Yeah, but it don't need to be you." Seth wasn't the least bit bothered by his glaring. "He attacked me. This is my fight. I'll handle it."

"No."

"No?"

"No," Dean repeated.

It was Seth's turn to glare now. "I'm a grown ass man Dean. You can't tell me no."

"I can tell you whatever the fuck I want." Dean knew he needed to not raise his voice. They were going to wake up Roman. But it was hard to care too much at the moment. He was not having this shit from Seth. "You're not fucking fighting him. I'm fucking fighting him."

"I'll get to him first."

"I will tie your ass up and leave you in the trunk of my car if you fucking try it."

"Dean for fuck's sake!" Seth sat up and folded his arms over his chest. "The fucker ambushed me earlier. If I get him in there one on one, I can fucking beat him."

"But it won't be one on one," Dean reminded him. "Not with Hunter, who is actively looking to hurt you because you rejected his ass. You're not going anywhere near him again. I can fucking handle this."

Seth wasn't convinced. "I've wrestled Kevin before. I know how to beat him."

"You haven't wrestled Kevin since he turned into the mother of all flaming douchebags. Let me handle it."

"No."

Dean glared at Seth. Seth glared back. A tense silence fell between them. Neither were willing to budge. Dean couldn't allow himself to. He didn't care if Seth had fought Kevin before. That had been a different time and a different place. Seth did not have his shit together career wise. He wasn't ready for the war Hunter would use Owens to wage. Dean wanted Seth to see that. He could fight this battle. He had wanted to rip Hunter's face off for the past year, so he had all the motivation in the world to go through Kevin Owens to do it.

"And what if you get hurt?" Seth spoke so quietly that Dean wouldn't have heard him if there had been more space between them. "He's fucked up Sami's shoulder twice now. You got a bum one to begin with." He reached over and lightly traced his fingers against said shoulder. "You won't be able to just pop it back in place forever." He took a deep breath, brown eyes filling with a desperate kind of fear. "You've already been hurt enough because of me. Let me make this right."

Dean swallowed hard. He hadn't expected that argument to be used. He still couldn't let it work. What if he did and Seth was the one who got hurt? That was the only thing he could picture in his head. Seth, getting completely decimated. A powerbomb on to the ring apron, a package piledriver, a sledgehammer shot to the head - he could see them all so clearly and he felt like he was going to be sick.

Seth must have been having similar thoughts about him, because his lips were suddenly on him, kissing him with a desperation that wasn't like him. Dean returned the kiss and started to move so he was laying over him. "No," Seth mumbled. He reversed their direction, rolling so he was the one on top. "Let me."

"Seth..." Dean's mind went blank as Seth's mouth covered his neck. He let out a small moan as his head arched back. Seth's mouth kept moving, kissing and sucking all over his skin. "Wanna...fuck, I wanna taste you."

"Wanna taste you more," Seth mumbled against his skin.

"Bullshit."

"No. No bullshit." Seth's fingers slipped past the waistband of his boxers and started to pull them down. He suddenly stopped though, a wicked smirk crossing his face.

"What?" Dean raised his eyebrows as he watched the wheels turn in Seth's head. "What is it?"

There wasn't a verbal answer to that. Instead Seth busied himself with getting both of them completely stripped. He took a quick glance over at Roman to make sure he was still asleep before climbing back on top of Dean. He turned himself around, straddling Dean's chest before leaning down and taking Dean's cock into his mouth.

"Oh fucking christ!" The picture was suddenly so much clearer. Dean's eyes fluttered shut, hips involuntarily bucking up towards Seth's mouth. Seth let him do it, gagging just a little bit. His hips rocked desperately, the movements telling Dean that his ass was begging for attention. Dean opened his eyes and grabbed Seth's hips, adjusting him to how he wanted him. Fingers gripped plump cheeks roughly, bitten down nails leaving little marks behind. Dean's tongue ran along the crack of Seth's ass, teasing the rim of his hole before finally sliding inside.

Seth let out a moan around his cock. The vibrations of it made Dean's toes curl. He spread Seth's cheeks further apart, his tongue sliding in deeper and faster. He felt his spit dripping down his chin, which only spurred him on more. He loved getting Seth so wet that he could just slip his fingers inside of him with no trouble at all. Sometimes, if he did it long enough, he could get his cock in there without any other lube. He was tempted to try that tonight, but he shook off that thought. The way Seth was sucking him right now wouldn't let him last that long.

"Fuck Dean." Seth moved his mouth long enough to bite the inside of Dean's thighs. His hand stroked his cock all the while. He rocked his hips, urging Dean's tongue deeper while rubbing his cock against his chest. His lips wrapped around the head of Dean's cock, the tongue teasing the slit as he hummed.

Seth was going to end up killing him if he kept doing shit like that. But what a sweet death it would be. Dean slid two fingers inside Seth to go with his tongue. He worked them in tandem, loving the muffled whimpers he was drawing out of the younger man. "Come on," he mumbled as his mouth strayed away to bite Seth's left ass cheek. A muffled yelp and an almost immediate bruise told him that mark would be there for awhile. That was good. That was what Dean wanted. He loved marking Seth in places that only he would see. It was a reminder that Seth was his. He was all his once again.

Seth bobbed his head faster, his tongue working expertly over the length. Dean fucked him with just his fingers now, sliding a third one in while his tongue teased the rim. It had become a race of sorts to see who could get the other to cum first. Dean's body felt incredibly hot. The muscles in his stomach were tightening and he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. He moved his fingers faster, curling them so he was hitting Seth's sweet spot. Seth's body jerked, and Dean was rewarded with the feeling of Seth's release splattering across his chest and stomach. Seth's mouth still worked him over, drawing out his release next. Dean bit down on his own hand, knowing he'd wake the whole hotel up if he didn't muffle himself.

"Fuck." Seth rolled off of him and laid flat on his back, breathing deep to try to regain his breath. "Holy fucking shit."

Dean could only nod. Those were his sentiments exactly.

* * *

"You must be joking dear boy."

Seth's eyes narrowed at Regal's words. He was standing in the older man's office, which was the last place he wanted to be on any particular day. He hadn't ever liked the Brit before Dean's little indiscretion with him back in FCW, and he certainly didn't like him after it. But he had no choice but to go to him. He was the one in charge. "Why would I be joking? I wouldn't even be here if I saw another option."

Regal shrugged a little. "You know bloody well that if Dean wants to fight Kevin Owens, he'll fight him whether I actually schedule the match or not. I'm not the one you need to take this battle with."

"Roman and I can keep him from jumping Owens back here. Just don't shedule the match."

"And what if they give me no choice? They're both bloody pains in the arse. What if I just feel like letting them duke it out so I only have to deal with the last one standing?"

Seth clenched his fists at his sides. Resisting the urge to leap across the desk and punch the fucker in the face was getting really, really difficult. "I need to be the one to fight Owens, alright? He attacked me. I want to fight him. Put him in the match with me so Dean can worry about Stardust."

"Oh he'll have Stardust tonight. I already have that one scheduled." Regal leaned forward and laced his fingers together as he put his hands on his desk. "Hunter did come to me and asked me to put Mr. Owens in an exhibition match of sorts against Dolph Ziggler. And you're teaming up with Bray Wyatt to take on Bryan and Orton. Now, assuming that you can keep Ambrose out of my hair, you can have your match with Owens on Raw." He moved a hand so he could point at Seth. "But so help me, if keeping Ambrose away from Kevin Owens becomes too much of a bother, I'll give him the match and hope they both destroy each other. Do you understand me?"

"Loud and clear." Seth turned on his heels and left the office, breathing a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him. Keeping Dean out of trouble would be a task, but he thought that between him and everyone else, they could manage it.

Maybe.

Possibly.

If they were lucky.

* * *

"Seth is gonna whoop our mother fucking asses man," Jimmy complained. "What are you doing? He said he wanted to fight Owens! Putting us all on some manhunt is not really necessary."

The words went in one ear and out the other. Dean was too focused on storming through the backstage area to pay much attention to Jimmy and Jey's attempts at calming him down. Seth had said he had to take care of something and Roman had gotten pulled aside to do some Make A Wish thing, which left him without someone who could actually stop him from trying to find Kevin Owens. He knew Seth wanted him to leave the situation alone, but he couldn't. Not this time. He didn't care if Seth wanted to do the fight himself; Seth was stupid and getting himself in over his head. This was something he could take care of. They would all be better off if he did it.

"Where are we even going to find him anyway?" Jey asked. He hadn't been doing as much complaining as Jimmy, though now he seemed to be looking to start. "Do they got their own room back here? Are we going to have to fight security guards? Because we got a match tonight. We're not looking to get hurt before it."

Dean continued to ignore them as he turned the corner. His eyes widened as he saw them. Hunter had Kevin, Tyler and Baron huddled together, seemingly talking some kind of strategy. There was no security to be seen anywhere nearby. Or maybe Dean was just missing them. His attention was really just zeroed in on Kevin. Kevin, who saw him before anyone else in his little group did. Kevin, who had the audacity to grin at him as he stepped forward. Baron and Tyler looked confused while Hunter let out a long sigh and shook his head.

"Kevin, let's not -"

"I knew the lover boy would be coming." Kevin spoke loud enough to get the attention of the crew members that were on both ends of the hallway.

He sounded quite amused by the look he was getting from Dean, which was even more infuriating. "I was kind of expecting him sooner though." He peered around, seemingly looking for someone. "Where's Seth? I didn't hurt him already did I? I barely got started."

"Dean..."

Jimmy's attempt to reel Dean back in went nowhere. Dean lunged, pushing past Baron and Tyler to jump on Kevin. Fists started flying, some his own and some Kevin's. Kevin was bigger and stronger, but Dean had raw, animalistic rage going for him. Everyone around them was shouting and ordering them to break it up. Hands grabbed at them, pulling and prying until they finally managed to get them apart. There was blood, both from Dean's lip and Kevin's nose.

"Uce come on!" Jimmy and Jey were struggling just to keep a hold of Dean. "Come on, we'll get you a match with him." Jimmy cursed as Dean nearly broke free. "Uce! Settle down!"

"You touch him again and I'll fucking kill you!" Once again, Dean wasn't listening to a word being said to him. He was too busy snarling at Kevin, spit and blood flying from his mouth.

Kevin stood up, keeping himself behind his buddies as the next words came out of his mouth. "I'll fucking break his neck and make ya watch you little faggot!"

Dean didn't know if Jimmy and Jey willingly let him go at that one, or if they just lost their grip. He didn't care. He was lunging again, hitting everyone in front of him. Tyler and Baron jumped on him, drawing the Usos into the violence now as well. Hunter was yelling, but what he was saying wasn't understandable. Everything was a blur of fists and teeth and blood. Hands kept grabbing him and he kept hitting who they belonged to, not stopping until one voice pierced through his fury filled haze.

"DEAN!"

Dean froze, allowing the hands on him to pry him and Owens apart. Half the roster was in the hall now, struggling to get the fight separated. Roman (sporting an eye that was already swelling shut), Dolph, Cesaro and Neville had a hold of him while Seth stood not far away from him, looking absolutely livid. "Seth..."

"Just...fucking god damn it Dean!" Seth grabbed handfuls of his own hair, nearly yanking it out in frustration. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck you god damn it!"

"Seth just calm down." Roman was starting to pull Dean away from the chaos, stealing a glance at Jimmy and Jey so they would follow. "We're going okay? It's going to be alright."

The absolutely livid look in Seth's eyes showed that it wasn't about to be. Not anytime soon.


	21. Chapter 21

"You are such a fucking asshole!"

"Me? I was DEFENDING you!"

"I didn't fucking ask you to Dean! I told you that I wanted to handle this! I'm a grown man! I can fucking take care of myself!"

"And I told you that I wanted to handle that asshole! I'm the fucking Intercontinental champion. You're in a fucking slump. I'm -"

"Ohhhh, so that's how it is? That suddenly makes you so much better than me?"

"I didn't say that!"

"But you just fucking did!"

"Maybe one of us should go in there."

Neville's statement was met with incredulous looks. He, Roman, the Usos and Naomi were standing outside Roman's locker room, trying to wait out the screaming match between Dean and Seth. Roman was the one who had told them to give them the space. He knew better than any of them how the two of them got. He knew Seth and Dean had to get at least some of this out of their systems. They were both stubborn hotheads, and sometimes there was just no containing them.

"You can go in there if you want Legolas," Jimmy said. "But I'm not coming near them with a fifty foot pole."

Neville made a face. "Do you have to call me that? I don't even look like him."

"You got elf ears don't you?"

"I -"

"Then you're Legolas."

"I do not have elf ears!"

Roman let out a long sigh. Great. There really was no escaping the fighting around here.

"How about I shove that Intercontinental title up your ass?" Seth's voice kept getting louder, which was making it more and more awful to listen to. The sound of it alone should have made Dean give up the fight, but he was a more stubborn man than Roman was. "How the fuck does that sound?"

"Seth -"

"No! Fuck you Dean! I'm not a fucking damsel in distress. I can fucking take care of myself."

"And I don't need you going around and giving Hunter what he wants again by letting you walk into his fucking little trap!" Dean shot back. "Owens is here to fucking hurt you."

"I don't give a shit if he wants to hurt me! Fucking let him. Just fucking stay the fuck out of it. This is my fucking mess and I don't need you getting hurt trying to get me out of it."

"Well I'm already in it, so fucking get over it."

"Think they're almost done?" Naomi took a glance at her watch. "The show's gonna start soon. They can't keep this up all night."

"Fuck you Dean." Seth's statement was followed by the sound of something crashing into the wall. "I fucking told you why I didn't want you to fight him, and you didn't even have enough respect for me to at least try to contain yourself for five fucking seconds."

"I - wait, where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"None of your business."

"The hell it ain't."

"Ow! Let go of me!"

"I'm not even -"

"ROMAN!"

"Oh fuck me." Roman had to go in now. He opened the door, not caring if the others followed him in or not. He found that Dean had a hold of Seth's arm to keep him from storming out. Seth was squirming and yelling, though Roman was pretty sure that Dean wasn't holding as tightly as Seth was trying to pretend he was. Seth just had a flair for the dramatics when he got super pissed.

"Roman talk to him!" Dean pleaded. "Just fucking tell him that I need to handle this shit."

Seth glared at him before looking at Roman. "No, you tell him that he's a fucking idiot and to let me the fuck go before I fucking bite his ass."

"Wouldn't be the first time, so..."

Seth let out a frustrated growl before ripping himself out of Dean's grip and bolting. Dean tried to grab him again, but Roman got in between them to stop him.

"Roman what the hell?" Dean tried to get around him, but Roman didn't allow it. "Dude! Fucking move!"

"You need to let him calm down," Roman said sternly. "Jimmy and Jey will go watch his back. Just give him some space."

"Wait, we're gonna go do that?" Jimmy threw his hands up in exasperation. "Dude! We have better things to do than..." his voice trailed off at the look he got from Roman. "Okay. You know what? We'll just go watch his back. We got him uce."

Roman nodded curtly before looking at Dean again. The younger man didn't look the least bit put at ease "They're not going to let anything happen to him. He'll be easier to stop than you."

"That's not the point," Dean snapped. He tried to go out the door like the others did (Naomi and Neville decided to leave Dean to Roman and help go after Seth as well), but Roman didn't let him get away. "You know I'm right on this Roman. You fucking know I am."

"I'm not touching that one." Roman didn't want to go there. Not if it could be absolutely helped. He could see it going both ways. Dean was on a better roll than Seth was. He had always been better at straight up fighting. But Seth had fought Kevin before. He knew how to beat him. And not only that, his emotions were a lot less likely to get in his way than Dean's. "I know you just want to protect him. I get it, alright? But you'd be just as pissed as he is if you asked him not to do some shit and he went and did it anyway. You know that."

Dean did, but he didn't actually want to admit it. "Whatever," he grumbled. He walked over to the bench and sat down. "If he wants to be mad at me then he can be fucking mad. I don't care."

Roman knew that wasn't true. He didn't bother to argue with him though. Instead he shook his head and took a glance at the clock. "You got a match to get ready for tonight. Just sit here and cool off and get ready for it, alright?"

"Who the fuck am I even facing?"

"Stardust."

Dean made a face. "Why can't I fight Owens instead?"

Roman let out a long sigh. "Can you let that go? Just so Seth's not totally unpleasant in the car tonight?"

Dean just grunted unhappily.

Roman sighed. He supposed that was at least better than more arguing.

* * *

Seth wasn't the type to like wrestling angry. He liked going in with a plan. He liked to pride himself in being meticulous in exploiting his opponent's weakness and using it to his advantage. But now he had no choice but to wrestle angry. He was far, far too pissed off to go into his tag match with a level head. He was angry at Hunter for coming back into all their lives like a cancer. He was angry at Kevin Owens for just existing. He was absolutely furious with Dean for being so god damn stubborn. But above all else, he was angry with himself. He had not only let himself be weak and give into Hunter in the first place, but once that fell apart he let his career go with it. He had let himself become some loser. He had let himself become someone that Dean didn't even have enough faith in to protect himself. Maybe Dean didn't mean it that way, but that was the way Seth kept taking it. That was how it felt to him. And he couldn't let that stand. Fuck that. He was going to show him. He was going to show all of them.

The others all tried to talk to him as he got ready. Tried to calm him down. Turning down Hunter on Raw had instilled a little bit of their faith back. Whether he was going to get the rest of it back remained to be seen. It would also be something he cared about later. For now he tuned them out, He focused on his anger, letting it build and carry him out to that ring. Fuck a game plan. He was fighting alongside Bray Wyatt anyway. Talking strategy with him was the last thing he wanted to do.

The match itself felt like a giant blur. Seth just attacked, nearly getting him and Bray disqualified on more than one occasion. Not that Bray even cared. He just laughed, watching Seth go off like it was the most amusing thing in the world. Seth was sure that he didn't want to know what Wyatt found to be so damn funny. It would probably only piss him off even more.

Seth reversed an RKO into getting Randy up and powerbombing him against the turnbuckles. Without wasting a second, Seth hit the ropes and came down with the hardest curbstomp he could muster. He went for the cover, at least getting the satisfaction of actually winning the match. The referee tried to raise his hand, but he didn't let it happen. He just slid out of the ring and left through the crowd, wanting to avoid the others by the curtain. Fans yelled at him, but they didn't try to shove him down the stairs as he moved. That was a good thing. As pissed off as he still was, he probably would have knocked them out for it.

With nobody around to stop him, Seth retreated to the nearest restroom. It was mercifully empty, so he could go to the sink and rinse off his face. His adrenaline was starting to wear of, leaving him to feel all the aches and pains that came with being in the business for so long. He was still pissed, but at this point, with his aggression all taken out, he just felt physically and emotionally drained from it. He had just wanted to handle this shit with Hunter and Kevin by himself. He didn't want Dean to get hurt because of him. It had happened enough times over the past year. And it wasn't like Seth had ever liked seeing it before that all went down. Trouble sometimes followed them when they went out to certain places, and with Dean's temper, things always escalated even more than they should have.

_"Dean! Oh god oh god oh god." Seth could barely keep Dean on his feet as they slipped out of the bar. They had gone out for drinks, wanting to blow off some steam after the Smackdown taping. Roman hadn't gone with them, saying he was too tired. Seth wished they had either tried harder to convince him or just stayed at the hotel as well. The bar trip had ended in disaster. Seth had gone to get them more drinks and had gotten harassed by three drunk assholes. They had seen him and Dean kissing and had decided to pick a fight with him about it. Seth wasn't sure if it was because they thought he was weaker, or just because he had been the first one they could get alone. Regardless, he had tried to just ignore them and go back to Dean. They had surrounded him though, trapping him and shoving him all around. Dean had noticed, and in true Dean fashion, came and started swinging. The fight had sort of gone okay, but a broken bottle being smashed against the side of Dean's face had ruined what advantage they had gotten._

_"S'not that bad," Dean mumbled._

_The hell it wasn't. Blood was pouring down the side of Dean's face. The glass had cut him right above the eye, which was scaring the shit out of Seth. What if there was glass in his eye? What if he was too out of it to say that and he went blind? Seth tried to shake off those thoughts, but he couldn't. This was his fault. It had been his idea to go out this time. He had asked Dean to go and now this had happened. Dean was hurt, and they were possibly going to get arrested if they didn't get out of there before the cops showed up._

_"No hospital," Dean tried to argue as Seth helped him get into the car. "M'fine."_

_"You're not fine," Seth snapped. He tried not to look at how much blood had already gone from Dean's face to his shirt. He was going to throw up if he focused on it too much._ _"You need to go to a hospital."_

_"Dean mumbled something incoherent before closing his eyes and slumping over."_

_"Dean?" Pure panic shot through Seth as he tried to shake Dean back away. What if he had a concussion? There had been so much blood that he hadn't thought about that. "Dean wake up." He tried lightly slapping the older man, but Dean didn't respond. "Dean? DEAN!"_

"Seth?"

Seth jumped as he turned around. He hadn't heard AJ come in. "What?" The word came out harsher than he intended it to. He winced and looked away, still too irritated to really apologize. "This is the men's room dude. You shouldn't be in here."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't really care right now." She stepped closer, limping as she did so. "I heard about what happened."

"You and the rest of the world I'm sure," he muttered.

"Did you hear that Regal made the match? He told Hunter to have Owens make the challenge in a promo."

Seth just scowled.

"And if they touch each other again before Monday then they're both suspended without pay."

That didn't make Seth feel any better. "He shouldn't be fucking fighting Owens at all. This is my fucking fight."

"Sure it is," AJ agreed. "But here's the thing - and take it from someone who's dating someone who has a protective streak that can match Dean's - your fight isn't just your fight. Your fight is his fight, just like mine is Paige's." She grabbed his arm and turned him so he was fully facing her. "And you know what? If Paige had been attacked by Charlotte, I'd be jumping into the mess." She tapped his chest lightly with a single finger. "If Owens had struck Dean first, wouldn't you be sticking your nose into it?"

"That's different," Seth said immediately.

"Why is it different?"

He struggled to answer that one. "...Because I said so."

She just gave him a look.

"Okay fine," he admitted. "I'd be doing the same thing. I just...I just got him back." His voice cracked and he hated it. He hated how pathetic he sounded right now. "I just fucking got him back, and now he's gonna be in this mess because of me. And if something happens to him -"

"You don't know that it's going to."

"It's Kevin Owens. He's hurt about everyone he's stepped in the ring with since getting here. Don't tell me that I don't know what's going to happen."

AJ sighed. "Good point, but maybe it'll be different. Dean's...well, he's Dean. He's fought bigger and scarier than Kevin Owens." She tapped his chest again, shaking her head when he tried to speak. "And look dude, if the worst does happen, you probably shouldn't go into the whole thing fighting with him. You know, because there's like movies and books and all this shit of the couple who fight about something and then tragedy strikes and one gets hurt or killed and then the other gets steamrolled by guilt. And there's drug use and alcoholism and maybe they find someone else, but then other times they just like completely die from the angst."

Seth blinked, not even sure what to say. "Um..."

She frowned. "That wasn't helpful was it?"

"Not in the very fucking least," he informed her.

"Damn." She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. "Just make sure you make nice with him. That way he won't die or get paralyzed."

Seth smacked a hand over his face. He didn't see how that would actually stop anything, but he wasn't going to keep arguing. It really wasn't worth it.

* * *

Between being preoccupied with the fight with Seth and wanting to kill Kevin Owens, the title defense against Stardust suffered greatly. Dean tried to get into it, but his head was so messed up that he kept making mistakes left and right. Pure resilience kept him from getting put down for the three count, but the freak was absolutely handing him an ass whipping. The title was slipping away from him. He could feel it. Everyone could feel it. It seemed to be only a matter of time.

The loss never came though. Not by pinfall at least. One moment Stardust was circling him, ready to finish him off. The next the referee was calling for the bell. Dean forced himself to sit up, blinking in surprise as he found Kevin Owens taking out Stardust. Confusion reigned until he figued that Kevin probably just wanted to be the one to get it from him. Anger spiked through him and he pushed himself up to his feet so he could charge the larger man. He wanted to hurt him. He wanted to tear him apart. He got within striking distance, but his fists didn't connect. Large hands grabbed him by the waist and tossed him up in the air. He heard the fans crying out, heard Michael Cole yelling, and then there was nothing but a ringing in his ears as he was powerbombed into the mat.

_Fuck..._

He didn't know how long he laid there like that. By the time he came out of his daze, there was all kinds of yelling going on. He blinked several times, rolling over a bit so he could see what was going on. Seth was out there now, he and Stardust both fighting Owens. Stardust was the worse for wear, getting taken down by a mere right hand. Seth wasn't one to go down that easy though. He kept coming in a fury, eventually blasting Kevin in the face with his own NXT title and sending him out of the ring.

"SETH!" The crowd was going absolutely crazy. They probably weren't sure if Seth had meant to help Dean or just wanted his own revenge on Owens, but they were happy to see him nonetheless. "SETH! SETH SETH SETH!"

Dean grinned, not giving a shit if the cameras caught him or not. They could edit it out later if they didn't like it. "That's my boy," he muttered as he let out a short laugh. "Fucking god damn right."


	22. Chapter 22

Given the way things broke down at the end of of the Intercontinental title match, the one on one match between Kevin and Dean turned into a fatal four way between them, Stardust and Seth. That made Seth feel a little bit better. He couldn't keep Dean away from Owens, but he could at least be there to have his back. He didn't even care about winning the title. Being champion would be nice, but he didn't want to take that away from Dean. He would get himself a different one. On Monday he had to focus on watching Dean's back. He knew Dean would have his, so he just had to worry about keeping up his end of the bargain.

Dean and Seth didn't really speak as they followed Roman out of the arena. Neither one really wanted to apologize, mostly because they thought they had been in the right. But there was a peace between them now. Dean's hand was holding his, gripping it just a little too tight like he normally did. That was okay though. Seth never minded that. He gripped Dean's hand in return, his free hand dragging his stuff behind him. He really wished he had packed lighter. His arm was starting to ache from carrying it all.

"I'll drive," Roman offered. He already had the keys out from his pocket. "Just no funny business in the backseat."

"Would we ever do that?" Dean asked, trying his best to sound innocent.

"Is the sky blue? Is the pope Catholic? Am I really ridiculously good looking?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Alright alright. I get it you jackass." He stopped and let go of Seth's hand so he could take his stuff. "Here. I got it."

Seth frowned. "I can get it."

"You hate getting your own shit. Let me take it." Dean stubbornly pulled at it, not stopping until Seth let him take it. "Good. Now get in the car."

"So bossy." Seth still gave him a kiss on the cheek before doing what he said anyway. He fastened his seat belt before leaning his head back, his eyes closing as he Roman and Dean loaded up the trunk. It felt like he could sleep for a thousand years. But not alone. He definitely didn't want that. He opened one eye, waiting until Dean was in the backseat with him before resting his head against his shoulder and closing his eye back up.

"When the fuck did I become a pillow?" Dean grumbled. He didn't make any attempt to push Seth away though. Instead his hand found Seth's again, which was probably what drew the laugh out of Roman.

"You think something's funny Ro-Ro?"

"Yeah. You being a softy never gets old."

"Fuck you." Even with the accusation of being soft in place, Dean didn't let go of Seth's hand. In fact, the next thing Seth felt was Dean's lips pressing against the top of his head. Seth smiled. Dean was a lot softer than he wanted to admit. Seth wasn't going to say it, but they all knew it was true.

* * *

Dean didn't bother trying to go back to Vegas this time. This time he accepted that there was no point in doing it. Instead he went home with Seth, who seemed quite pleased with his decision. They picked up Kevin as soon as they got down there, and then spent the day lounging around on the beach. Dean didn't remember exactly when was the last time he was on a beach. He knew it was with Seth. That much he was certain. They probably had Kevin with them too. Seth treated Kevin like he was his child. It was rather cute, though Dean was much more likely to give him shit over it than tell him that.

"Kev no." Seth shook his head as he tightened his grip on the leash. "You can't go run into the ocean. You'll drown."

"He actually can swim pretty well," Dean commented. He smirked at the look he got at that. "What? He can! I've watched him do it!"

"A pool isn't the same as the ocean Dean."

"It's not that different. He won't drown."

"Then a shark might eat him." Seth reached down and scooped the Yorkie up into his arms. "I'm not letting that happen."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. A shark wouldn't want to eat him. He's so tiny that they'd be hungry again in ten minutes."

Seth narrowed his eyes. Dean grinned, trying to be cute and slip out of the trouble he just landed himself in. It didn't work. He got a slap upside the head before Seth huffed and stomped off. "Oh come on!" he yelled after him. "I was kidding!"

"Fuck you Dean!"

Kevin barked, seemingly agreeing.

"Oh god." Dean shook his head. He started going after them, not wanting to be left alone. "Seth! Seth wait up!"

* * *

On the way back from the beach they went through the drive-thru of a Chinese place not far from Seth's house. Seth tried to direct Dean towards the kitchen once they were home, but he plopped himself down on the couch and started eating right there. Kevin immediately jumped up beside him, begging for food. "Oh come on," Seth said in exasperation. "Don't give him that. He's going to get fat."

"Oh no he's not." Dean didn't even think twice about giving Kevin a piece of his orange chicken. "A little extra food never hurt anybody."

"I don't even think that's good for him."

"It's chicken. And it's not even like, spicy or anything. He'll be fine."

Seth didn't fully believe him, but for the sake of his food not getting cold, he decided not to argue more. "Well if he shits or pukes on the carpet, you're cleaning it up." "Well if he shits or pukes on the carpet, you're cleaning it up." He sat down and started to get into his own food. "Deal?"

"Deal." Dean opened his carton of rice, trying his best to balance that, his chicken, and a begging Kevin. Seth just watched him, slowly eating his Mongolian beef and lo mein. "You got the crab rangoon?"

"Well yeah. Of course."

"Hand me some then."

"No. It's mine."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "Seth, we talked about this. You have to share."

"Uh, no I don't." Seth had absolutely no interest in giving up the rangoon. "I like it more so I get it all."

Dean continued to glare at him. "That is a bullshit rule. Hand some over."

"No."

"I'll tell Roman."

"He's not even here!"

"I'll still tell him."

"You wouldn't dare."

Dean started to get up so he could take his phone out of his pocket.

"Fine!" Seth huffed and grabbed the container so Dean could get some. "You know what? Fine. Steal the thing I love the most. See if I care."

Dean rolled his eyes as he sat back down. "So dramatic." He kissed Seth's cheek before taking some, laughing at the fact Seth was completely pouting. "I'll make it up to you later."

"You better." Seth snatched the container back before too many could be taken. Even if he was going to share, he was still going to get more, and that was final.

* * *

The instant they were in the bedroom Dean found himself being pushed up against the wall. He tried to ask Seth what he was doing, but Seth's mouth on his stole the question away. He melted into the kiss, shivering as Seth's hands slipped under his shirt to run over his chest and stomach. He had planned on blowing Seth for that crab rangoon, but if the younger man wanted to take charge, he wasn't going to stop him. He had always gotten a thrill from Seth getting like this. His kisses got so much more desperate and demanding. He could feel how much Seth wanted him. How much he needed him. Dean's emotions were much more stronger in general, and sometimes he felt like he needed Seth more than he needed him. But in moments like these, he knew that wasn't true. Seth felt the same way. He could control it better, hide it, but it was still there.

Seth's tongue slipped into his mouth, his hands moving away so he could press his body fully against him. Dean let out a muffled moan, his arms wrapping around him to hold him in place. He felt like he was drowning in Seth. He was being completely consumed, but that was just fine. It was Seth, so it was more than fine.

At some point they moved away from the wall, though Dean would be damned if he knew when it exactly happened. They were stumbling for the bed, hands clumsily shedding their clothes. Dean went to push Seth back first on the mattress, only to get the tables turned and end up on it instead. Seth climbed on top of him, settling in between his legs rather than straddling him. Dean felt his breath catch in his throat. The position wasn't new, but it had been a long time. He tried to breathe, wanting to focus on that so maybe his pounding heart would calm down.

"Can I?" The rest of the question went unasked, but those two words from Seth were more than enough. He pulled back from the kissing, his thumb brushing across Dean's cheek. "We don't have to if you don't want. You could do me instead." He brushed his thumb over Dean's cheek again. He looked just as nervous as Dean did. "It's whatever you want."

Dean swallowed hard and nodded. "We can."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"You're not just saying that?"

"I...I wanna be back how we were." Dean's mouth was so dry he could barely speak. It was true though. He had Seth back. There had been so much shit that had happened but he loved him more than he cared about that anymore. Seth had refused Hunter, making the choice he didn't last year. He was going to be fighting by Dean's side again. Sure it would be a fatal four way on Monday, but only in name. He was going to have Seth's back. Seth had told him on the plane getting here that he would have his. He wanted to show Seth he trusted him. "Quit being a pussy and fuck me already."

Seth rolled his eyes, seeing right past Dean's crass words. "Tell me if you change your mind."

Dean tried to say he wouldn't, but Seth's lips on his cut him off. He returned the kiss eagerly, his legs shifting a bit farther apart so Seth could get more settled. He was faintly aware of Seth reaching over and grabbing the lube from the drawer of the bedside desk, but he couldn't focus too much on that fact. Not with Seth's lips pressing kisses all across his jaw and down to his neck. Kisses turned into little bites and sucks, leaving a whole trail of marks in their wake. "Fuck," Dean groaned. He moved his head to expose more of his neck. "Seth..."

Seth smirked against his skin. The kisses trailed down to Dean's collarbone before going to his chest. His tongue teased one nipple, teeth tugging the hardened nub to make Dean gasp. The other got the same treatment, Seth huffing out a laugh as Dean started to squirm.

"You're an ass," Dean declared.

"Me?" Seth tried to look innocent as he popped open the bottle of lube. "Yes you." Dean grabbed Seth's head and pulled him back up. "Little fucker." He captured Seth's lower lip with his teeth and tugged on it. His cock stirred at the whimper Seth let out. "You think you're so cute don't you?"

"I know I'm cute." Seth squeezed some of the lube on to his fingers and set the bottle on the mattress. "That's not even a question."

"You - oh fuck." Dean instinctively stiffened as one of Seth's fingers slid inside of him.

"Relax." Seth resumed kissing his neck and face as he slowly started working his finger in Dean. "If you still want this you gotta relax."

Right. Relaxing. Dean grabbed Seth's head so he could kiss him once more. The distraction allowed the relaxing, though he nearly stiffened again when Seth slid in another finger. He fought against it, knowing Seth would stop if he thought he was too uncomfortable. The kissing still helped, though feeling Seth's fingers crook and brush against his prostate was a whole lot better. "Fuck!" His body instinctively arched, wanting more of the contact.

"You good?" Seth mumbled as he did it again.

"More." Dean tried to come off as demanding rather than pleading. He wasn't entirely sure of how successful he was. Seth's fingers were moving a little faster, drawing little moans out from him.

Seth slid a third finger in, refusing to kiss Dean this time so he could watch his face as he did it. "God you're so fucking gorgeous."

Dean felt his cheeks flush. "Am -" he gasped as Seth's fingers moved just right again "-not. Fucking not."

"You're just saying that because you don't see yourself right now."

Dean's cheeks flushed even more. He wasn't one for taking compliments easily, especially when they were about his appearance. But he wasn't given the chance to argue. Not with the sudden loss of Seth's fingers. He let out a noise that he would deny being a whine to his grave, though given the smirk he got from Seth, the denial would not go remotely believed.

"You sure you still want me to do this?" Seth asked as he lubed up his dick.

Dean just nodded. He was past the point of being useful with his words. His heart was still pounding in his chest. Every nerve in his body felt like it had electricity coursing through it. He was torn between wanting Seth to hurry up and get inside him already and still wanting him to go slow. Some sort of mumbled set of words left his mouth, but he would be damned if he even knew what he said.

Seth's head dropped down and a new trail of kisses started at Dean's stomach. Each one lingered, acting as a mini act of worship on his body. It's not until he reaches Dean's neck that he slides his cock in, pushing in ever so slowly. Dean tried to bite back his moan, but didn't care too much when he failed. Seth stopped when he was all the way in. The kisses kept going across Dean's neck and then to his jaw, whispered words coming out in between them. Dean couldn't tell what the fuck they were. He was too busy focusing on how full he felt. He was to busy slowly raking his nails up and down Seth's back, loving the little groan he got from the other man.

Seth started to move slowly, his trail of kisses going back to Dean's mouth as he thrusted. Dean's legs wrapped around Seth's waist, holding him even closer. The pounding of his heart was easing just slightly. His body was more relaxed, even moving now into Seth's thrusts. His eyes fluttered closed, though he still felt the weight of Seth's gaze on him as they broke the kiss to breathe.

"I love you." Seth's voice was raspy as he spoke. He traced his fingers against Dean's face before giving him another kiss. "Fuck. I fucking love you so much."

Dean's stomach did a flip inside of him, just like it always did when he heard those words. He always felt so stupid over it, but that wasn't enough to make it stop. He felt Seth's lips pressing all over his face, the statement being repeated a few times more. "Seth..."

Seth pressed his forehead to his as his thrusts grew faster. Dean opened his eyes, his breath catching in his throat at the fucking look Seth was giving him. If his stomach had done a flip before, it was doing full on gymnastics now. He wanted to say something. It felt like he should. But nothing came out of his mouth except for a moan.

Bitten down nails tried to dig deeper into Seth's back. Dean's legs wrapped more tightly around Seth's waist. Their foreheads stayed pressed together while their eyes stayed locked. They weren't kissing anymore. There were a few attempts, but all of them now were just open mouthed and messy. Moans and curses mixed together with the sound of skin slapping against skin. Seth's thrusts were getting faster, a hand finally reaching down between them to stroke Dean's cock.

"Fuck!" Dean gasped. He arched into the touch, moaning as Seth stroked him firmly. His head was spinning, his mind blissfully blank. "Seth...fuck...I'm gonna...oh fuck..." He shuddered as he came, his noises dying out to a whimper in the process. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. He was faintly aware of Seth's own orgasm following. The movements stilled, their bodies staying joined as they tried to catch their breath.

"I love you," Seth said again.

"I love you too."

The words surprised them both. Dean hadn't planned on saying them. He felt it. He hadn't ever stopped. He had told Roman as much. But that was different. Telling Roman wasn't the same as telling Seth. But now it was done. He had said it, and he felt his stomach doing that stupid flippy thing again at the way Seth's whole face lit up. "Don't get mushy on me now."

"No mushy," Seth promised. He gave Dean one last kiss before rolling off of him. "Shower?"

Dean nodded, wincing just a little as he sat up. "Shower."


	23. Chapter 23

"This is stupid. I don't want to do this."

Paige's declaration was met with a roll of the eyes from Roman. He knew that had been coming. He had tried to tell AJ as much, but the pint sized Divas champion had not been interested in listening to him. She had made up her mind that she wanted Paige to make nice with Seth. The rampant dislike between them was unacceptable to her. She wanted them to get along now. And since she wanted it, she had dragged Paige to Roman's house and called Seth, demanding that he and Dean come over for bonding time. Roman didn't think forcing the situation was going to help, but that didn't matter. AJ wanted what she wanted and that was just the end of it.

"Dolph, tell her this is stupid." In getting dragged here, Paige had a made a point to get Dolph to come along too. Roman was surprised that Dolph let himself be talked into this. He could have easily avoided it. Yet here he was just the same, looking just as exasperated as Roman felt.

"You made me come here, so you're definitely doing it." Dolph folded his arms over his chest, not the least bit intimidated by her glaring. "You don't even have a good excuse as to why you've never liked him. At least I had to play second fiddle to him when Dean and I were together."

Paige huffed loudly and muttered something Roman didn't hear under her breath. He looked at AJ, who was sitting in his chair playing with her tablet. "If she and Seth end up killing each other, you're cleaning it up," he informed her. "I want to make that clear."

"Gotcha." AJ didn't even look at him as she responded. She just gave him a thumbs up while keeping her eyes locked on whatever she had going on her tablet.

"Anyone else want a beer?" Roman walked into the kitchen as he asked the question. He had gotten a whole pack of it when he had gotten home, intending for it to last him for all the days he had off. He didn't think it would last that long now, but he didn't really care too much.

"Yes!" Dolph and Paige answered that at the same time.

"Can I have hot chocolate?" AJ asked.

Roman stopped just as he was about to open the fridge. "It's ninety degrees outside. Why do you want hot chocolate?"

"I like it! With extra marshmallows!"

"I don't even have any!" Roman was pretty sure he didn't anyway. He hadn't ever been a big fan of it. Cody used to get it and keep some in his cupboard, but he was fairly certain he had thrown that out.

"Well you suck!"

Roman rolled his eyes and opened the fridge. He pulled out three beers and a can of Coke, figuring AJ could deal with that instead. He walked back into the living room, handing Paige and Dolph their drinks before holding AJ's out to her. "I'll buy hot chocolate later if it'll make you happy," he said when he saw her getting ready to argue. "Can you just make due with this for now? Please?"

AJ let out a long sigh before reluctantly accepting it. "Fine. Whatever."

"Thank you." Roman started to go sit down when the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway caught his attention. "I think that's them." He walked over to the window and peeked out. He saw Seth's car, though neither Seth or Dean had gotten out of the vehicle yet. "Yeah it's them." He cracked open his beer and kept watching out the window. Seth got out of the car first, and was halfway around to Dean's side when Dean himself got out. Roman couldn't tell if Seth had said something to bring the big, stupid grin on Dean's face, or if his mere presence was just enough to do it. Whatever the case was, Roman watched as Dean's arms wrapped around Seth's waist and he closed in for the kiss.

"Are they making out?" Paige come up behind Roman, groaning as she saw the kissing. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

"You think this is bad?" Roman shook his head. "Please. You haven't seen anything with those two." He watched as they broke apart, the two of them walking hand in hand towards the door. "Alright. That wasn't so bad."

"So what exactly are we going to be doing?" Dolph asked AJ while Roman went to go let Seth and Dean in. " "You didn't share how the fuck we're supposed to do this bonding time."

"It's a surprise," was AJ's reply.

"Why does it have to be a surprise?" Paige asked.

"Because I said so."

Roman shook his head. One of these days they were going to majorly regret letting AJ run the show. He just hoped it wouldn't be today.

* * *

When AJ had called and coerced him into coming to Roman's house to make nice with Paige, Seth had thought they would just be hanging out at the house. That was how he had interpreted at the plan. But here they were, eating pizza at some arcade place that was entirely overpriced. It wasn't something that really surprised him. It was AJ. She loved arcade games nearly as much as she loved video games, and pizza was always a winner for her.

"This is stupid," Dean grumbled under his breath as they started to eat. He had been pouting ever since he hadn't been allowed to have a say in what kind of pizza they got. Seth sort of felt bad, but not enough so to give in. Dean's taste in pizza was completely atrocious.

"It's not stupid," AJ snapped. She was sitting in between Dolph and Paige, stealing the pepperoni right off their slices. Paige slapping at her hand was doing nothing to stop her. "We're gonna play games and Paige and Seth are going to learn to like each other now."

"Why do we have to like each other?" Paige gave AJ's hand one last slap before picking up her slice and taking a bite. "Why can't we just sort of tolerate each other?"

"Because you didn't like, even tolerate him down in developmental," AJ replied. "You latched on to this idea of not liking him for whatever fucking reason."

"He gave off wanker vibes!"

"What?" Seth's voice attracted attention from the tables around him, but he didn't particularly care at the moment. "I did not give off wanker vibes!"

"You did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Wanker!"

"You're a wanker!"

"You're both wankers now shut up!" AJ's glare was enough to silence them for now. "God. This is stupid. We're adults here."

"Adults that are going to go play arcade games like a bunch of kids," Dolph chimed in.

AJ narrowed her eyes at him. "Did anybody ask for your opinion?"

"No but -"

"So shut it." She swatted at him for good measure before returning her full attention to Paige and Seth. "I swear to god, if you two don't even try to get along now, I'm gonna tie you together and lock you in a room and not ever let you out. Do you understand me?"

Dean frowned. "Dude, you can't tie him up. That's my job!"

AJ raised an eyebrow. "Let me watch and I won't steal him from you."

"Done."

"What?" Seth gave Dean an exasperated look. "You can't just - OW!" He yelped as AJ kicked his shin from underneath the table. "Okay okay okay! You can watch you fucking perv."

"That's more like it."

Seth rolled his eyes and the rest of the meal managed to go peacefully. The moment they were done AJ was shooing him and Paige off, snatching Dolph by the arm to go with her because Dean and Roman already wandered off by themselves. Seth sighed and looked at Paige, who was rolling her eyes. "What do you want to do?" He figured letting her pick would just make things easier in the long run.

There was a moment where he thought she was going to answer with something along the lines of wanting him to go fuck himself. It seemed like she wanted to. But she held her tongue, deciding to give this a try like AJ had demanded. "Skee ball," she finally said. "We're doing skee ball."

Skee ball. Seth could deal with that. He followed her over there, almost swearing that he already heard Dean and Roman arguing over all the noise that surrounded them. He thought about looking to see if that was the case, but decided against it. He wanted to avoid that headache just for a little longer.

There wasn't much talking when he and Paige started playing. They kept their focus on the game, Paige doing much worse at it than he was. She put too much force when she rolled the balls, making them bounce away from the higher valued holes and going into the ten point one. Seth did much better, easily beating her in the first game. And the second. Then the third. With each game he saw her getting more and more frustrated, which made her play worse and worse. "Don't roll it so damn hard," Seth finally said. The advice got him a glare, which made him shrug innocently. "What? You're doing it wrong."

"I need to get it up on the top one," she snapped.

"Well you're not going to get it doing it like that."

She huffed loudly. "Whatever. We're playing again."

Seth didn't argue. He did think about intentionally screwing up and letting her win, but decided against it. While that would work with AJ, Paige had way too much pride. She would see it as an insult. "How did I give you wanker vibes?" he finally asked. "Seriously."

"Do we actually have to talk about this?"

"Yeah. AJ's gonna kill us and I want to know. I never actually did anything to you to make you act like such a bitch."

"You seemed like a damn wanker! Seriously. Remember how you were in developmental? Always prancing around like you were so much better than the rest of us. That it was like an insult that you were even down there." She shook her head. "Maybe you didn't act that way towards me personally, but like, you still rubbed me the wrong way. And I might be a bit of a bitch with stuff like that, so I decided to embrace the bitch thing."

"I...okay yeah, I was a bit of an asshole down there," Seth conceded. He couldn't really deny it. Everyone knew how he had felt about being in FCW and NXT for as long as he had been. He had felt himself ready to be on Raw and Smackdown long before he had the opportunity to do so, and had made quite a few people miserable as he made that displeasure known.

"And your voice really annoyed me." It was hard to tell if Paige was being completely serious. Her tone made it sound that way, but the smirk on her face made Seth think she was fucking with him. "It still does actually."

"What?" Seth put his hands on his hips and glared at her. "My voice is not annoying!"

"It is too!" she insisted, openly laughing at him now. "It's all weird and nasal."

"It is not!"

"Is too!"

Seth folded his arms over his chest and glared at her. "I thought you were supposed to get along with me now."

"I think we're getting along."

"You're making fun of my voice.'

"But I don't want to actively strangle you, so that's progress."

Seth groaned. Maybe it was progress, but that wasn't the kind AJ was really looking for. It was going to have to do for now though. "At least I don't look like Casper." If she was still going to give him shit, he was going to give it right back.

"At least I don't sound like Waluigi when I laugh."

"I...that's...fuck!"

Paige snickered, quite pleased with herself. "Come on." She grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him along. "Let's see what else this place has got."

* * *

By the time they left the arcade Seth and Paige had tried to beat each other in about everything they could possibly do, while Dean was pouting because Roman had smoked his ass in air hockey. AJ and Dolph about got kicked out of the place completely for pushing and shoving each other around while playing Dance Dance Revolution. Dean stopped pouting long enough to brag about not behaving like a complete animal while in public. That had gotten AJ's shoe thrown at him, and now his forehead still hurt from where it hit him. He grumbled about it even now as he wandered into the kitchen to get himself some beer. They were back at Roman's house, all piled up in the living room watching movies. Paige had put in Army of Darkness, which she swore up and down to him wasn't scary like the first two Evil Dead movies. He trusted her about as far as he could throw a bus, so now here he was, intending to hide out in the kitchen for as long as possible.

He cracked open the beer and drank it slowly, his eyes scanning the kitchen for a magazine or a newspaper to look at. He couldn't slip upstairs to get one of Roman's books. Paige and AJ would be on him, insisting that he watch the damn movie. "Come on Ro," he muttered as he went over to the table and started sifting through all the stuff on it with one hand. "Don't let me down."

"Hey."

"Jesus!" Dean jumped, spilling some of his beer not only on his hand, but on the floor too. He turned around to glare at Dolph, who was laughing at him. "Dude. The fuck?"

"Sorry man. I didn't mean to scare you." Dolph didn't sound the least bit sincere. He was clearly laughing at Dean, which made Dean flip him off. "I just wanted something to drink too."

"Then get it you ass." Dean sat down at the table, putting his beer down so he could wipe his hand off on his jeans. "Fucking christ man. Fucking be more noisy the next time you come in here."

"I'll keep that in mind." Dolph opened the fridge and got out a beer of his own. "The others noticed you were gone. AJ says to tell you that you're a big baby."

"Well excuse me for not liking scary movies."

"Dude, this movie ain't scary. It's just ridiculous."

"Don't care," Dean said stubbornly. "Not going back out there."

Dolph rolled his eyes, but didn't leave like Dean expected him to. Instead he sat down next to Dean, watching him as he managed to find a newspaper hidden under all the clutter. "Is that even from today?"

Dean took a look at the date written on the front page. "Nope." That didn't really matter to him. It wasn't like he regularly read one of these things anyway. He would mean to but then it would slip his mind completely.

They sat in silence for a bit, Dean skimming through the paper while Dolph nursed his beer and pretended he wasn't watching him. But Dean knew he was. He could feel his eyes on him. He tried to pretend he didn't notice. It felt like actively noticing would lead to a conversation, which he wasn't sure he wanted to have. He had enough shit on his plate as it was. He didn't need to add anything else to it. But the weight of Dolph's gaze stayed on him, and he finally had to look up from the paper and groan. "What?"

"Nothing," Dolph lied.

"You're staring."

"Was not."

"Was too. Just say what the fuck's on your mind."

Dolph still hesitated, needing a moment to choose his words. "How are things?" he finally asked. "With you and Seth?"

Dean shrugged. He wasn't sure if he wanted to answer that. Things were back on track with Seth, but it didn't feel right to talk to Dolph about it. He knew how Dolph had felt about him. And even if the feelings had never been returned, it wasn't like he intentionally wanted to rub anything in his face. He wasn't that big of a dick.

"It's alright." Dolph saw his silence for what it was. "I'm not asking to make things weird. I just...I just really want to know."

Dean tapped his fingers against the table. "It's good," he finally said. "It's all good." He nodded to his own words, stopping when he saw Dolph about to get up. "What about you? Are you good?"

"Me?" Dolph shrugged before giving him another nod. "Yeah man. I'm good."

"You sure?" The question was out of Dean's mouth before he could stop it. He wasn't one to usually probe like this. This was shit Seth and Roman did. Yet here he was, fucking doing it himself.

"Yeah," Dolph said again. "Finn and I are going to go grab drinks the next time he's up doing house shows with us."

Dean smirked. "You and Finn huh?"

Dolph's grin was wide and goofy, which Dean was glad to see. "Yeah man."

"I thought he and Hideo had a thing?"

"Nah. They're just friends. Means I got the all clear."

Dean chuckled. "Let me know how that works out for you."

"Oh I will." Dolph did get up this time, but he didn't move far. He stopped right next to Dean and grabbed on to his shoulder. "Look, for what it's worth, I can tell you're much happier with him. And I'm happy for you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Just promise me you'll kick Kevin's ass on Monday."

"Oh we definitely plan on it."

Dolph smiled in satisfaction before leaving the room. He passed Seth on his way, nodding at him and leaving Seth confused. "What's that about?" Seth asked.

"Nothin'. We were just talking." He pushed the newspaper aside and reached over to grab Seth's hand as soon as he was close enough. "You hereto drag me back in here?"

Seth smirked. "Unless you got a better idea."

Dean did actually. He stood up and pulled Seth even closer to him, placing a long, soft kiss on his lips. "We could go fuck in the garage," he whispered, not wanting to take any chance of Roman happening to overhear him. "The door's right over there. I can fuck you so hard. You can't just be too fucking noisy. Don't want everyone hearing you screaming my name."

"You don't want everyone to know how good you fuck me?" Seth shook his head. "What gives?"

"Do you want Roman to put his fist through my face if he catches us?"

"...Good point." Seth cast a look back to make sure nobody was coming before dragging Dean to the door that separated the garage from the rest of the house. "Come on. We'll make this quick."

 


	24. Chapter 24

The mood backstage on Monday was tense. Everyone from the other wrestlers to the agents to the ring crew were on edge as the countdown to the four way match began. Nobody really knew what to expect. Seth didn't either honestly. That wasn't something that set well with him; he wanted to be ready for anything. But the truth of the matter was, he just didn't know. He didn't know if Kevin's interests were actually in the title, or whether they were more on hurting him and Dean. He didn't know if Hunter planned to get physically involved or not. He didn't know if Baron or Tyler were going to be lurking around. The uncertainty of it all was fucking with his head. Even with him and Dean being on the same page, he had a bad feeling that going through with this match wasn't a good idea. He tried to shake it off. That wasn't a thought he needed to have. He had to focus. If he let himself get defeated before the match started, they stood no chance once the bell actually rang.

He changed into his ring gear early, wanting to have plenty of time to stretch and get his mind in the right place. Dean was the only one in the room with him. He had already changed into his sleeveless black Unstable shirt, and was in the process of taping up his hands. They hadn't really talked much since getting there. Seth hoped Dean wasn't having the same kind of thoughts that he was. They didn't both need to be on this train of thought. At least one of them needed to go in believing they would win. If Dean was that one, Seth could feed off his confidence. He could believe it if Dean believed it.

"Fucking hell."

Seth stopped and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Tape's not cooperating." Dean tried to just fix what was already on his hand, but growled when it didn't go as planned again. "Dammit!" He took it off completely and went to start again.

"Let me." Seth went over to him and got down on his knees.

Dean, who knew damn well Seth had to get down like that because he was sitting on the bench, still quirked an eyebrow. "Assuming your natural position? You sure we got time for that?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Shut the fuck up Dean." He grabbed the tape and started carefully wrapping it around Dean's right hand. It had been awhile since he had done this, but he still had better luck than Dean just did. He decided to just do Dean's left hand as well, finishing off the whole thing by kissing Dean's knuckles. "Good?"

"Good," Dean confirmed. He leaned forward and gave Seth a kiss of his own. "Thanks."

"No problem." Another kiss, and Seth sighed as he rested his forehead against Dean's. The uneasiness was still there, but more muted now.

"We got this." Dean spoke as it seemed to dawn on him what Seth was thinking. Seth should have figured he would figure it out eventually. They both knew just how to read each other. "Mother fuckers don't stand a chance."

Seth smiled softly. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." Dean's confidence was for the most part real. There was a hint of nervousness in his eyes, but he was far too stubborn to acknowledge it out loud. "It's gonna be like old times. Us versus the fucking world and we're gonna fucking win."

"You know it could come down to us having to fight."

"Well then I'm gonna win that one, but we'll cross that bridge when we have to."

Seth rolled his eyes. He could have brought up the fact that he had won more of their matches against each other, but he didn't. If they got through all this in one piece, he would be more than happy to take the loss.

* * *

"You know we got your backs too, right?"

Dean just sort of nodded at Roman's words. He was waiting to go out for his entrance. Stardust and Owens were already out there, and Seth was making his way there right now. Dean had told him not to get into the ring until he got out there too. The last thing he wanted to have happen was have the two assholes jump him before the match even officially started.

"Jimmy and Jey are coming over here to watch the ramp." Roman continued talking despite Dean barely acknowledging that he had spoken. "Dolph, Neville, Tamina and I are gonna try to keep an eye on the crowd entrances. We're gonna hope we can intercept Breeze and Corbin if they try to get involved."

Right. Them. Dean hadn't been giving them too much thought. He supposed he should have. They were associated with Hunter and Owens, so they were a problem too. But hopefully Roman and the others could take care of them before they became an issue.

"Just worry about the match. Come back here with that gold." Roman held out his fist, which Dean bumped with his own. "Love ya brother."

Dean just sort of nodded before grabbing Roman's head and planting a kiss on his forehead. He heard his music hit, and he took off through the curtain. The crowd roared, but he barely noticed them. His eyes were focused on the men in front of him. Stardust was perched up on the turnbuckles, hissing and glaring at him. Seth was at the bottom of the ramp, looking back at him. Hunter stood near the announcers, arms folded over his chest. Kevin was in the ring, but he didn't stay there for long. He rolled out of the ring and rushed at Seth, knocking him to the ground for no reason at all. Dean snarled and rushed him back, leaping on him and throwing punches wildly. The referee went ahead and rang the bell, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to keep any sort of control over all of this.

"Mother fucker," Dean heard Seth growl before he jumped into the fray as well. They both pounded on Kevin, forgetting that Stardust even existed until they heard him screeching above them. The sound was too terrible for Dean to just ignore. He turned and looked up just in time to see Stardust flying down right on them. He took them all out with the jump, taking himself out of the game for a couple of moments as well. Once he was up, Dean felt himself being pulled up to his feet and being rolled back into the ring. He immediately started trying to shake off the effects of Stardust's jump so he could get back in the game. He couldn't let himself get isolated from Seth. He had to stay with him. Had to make sure they were fighting together and not alone.

Seth and Kevin both ended up back in the ring. Dean focused on trying to stay side by side with Seth, repeatedly throwing Stardust out of the ring so they could focus on Owens. Stardust kept getting right back in, not willing to be gotten rid of that easily. He ate a double clothesline for his troubles, though Seth and Dean ended up eating one from Kevin once they turned back around.

"Come here mother fucker." Kevin grabbed Dean first and rammed him shoulder first into the steel ring post as hard as he possibly could. Pain shot down through Dean's whole arm. It was the bum shoulder; it was always the fucking bum shoulder they did this to. A litany of curses left his mouth as he barely registered the fact that he was being pulled back and rolled up. The referee's hand hitting the mat cleared the situation up for him. He started trying to escape, managing to get his shoulder up right as Seth came to help break it up. He rolled himself out of the way, the sharpness of the pain dulling down at least somewhat. It wasn't dislocated again. That was good. Throbbing pain was much easier to work with.

Minutes passed in a complete blur. Everything seemed to be happening all at once. Dean felt like his head was on a constant swivel. He wasn't getting anywhere close to ending the match. Neither Stardust or Owens would stay down long enough for it. He didn't touch a hair on Seth's head. He didn't touch a hair on Seth's head. There wasn't time to let it really come down to the two of them. Stardust and Kevin were always around, keeping him on the same page. The confusion from the crowd and the announcers was evident. They were so used to them trying to kill each other anymore. The fans though, while confused, seemed to be enjoying it. Some were looking around, seemingly looking for Roman. A Shield reunion was what many of them wanted to see. Dean had been asked about it more times than he could ever count. It hadn't come up between them personally, but maybe it would in the future. He'd file it away for now.

Seth clotheslined Kevin out of the ring, leaving Dean to hit Stardust with a tornado DDT. He went for the cover, hoping to end the match there so he could get Seth the hell out of dodge. It wasn't going to be that simple though. He got a two count and then the referee just stopped, saying something about the ropes. Dean looked over and saw Hunter backing away not so innocently. It wasn't hard to figure out what he had done. He had put Stardust's foot on the ropes to keep the match going for Owens.

"You fucking asshole," Dean snarled. His temper flared, making him roll right out of the ring.

"Easy there Ambrose." Hunter backed away, his hands raised in surrender. "Just take it easy."

Dean was not going to take it easy. He reached forward and grabbed Hunter by the front of his suit. He pulled him in and swung his fist, smashing it right into the bastard's nose. He felt it crack underneath his knuckles, which sent a thrill of satisfaction through him.

"Dean! Dean look out!"

The varous fans screaming made him turn around. As he was turning, he caught sight of Breeze slipping out from under the ring. The sight was barely processed though before Baron was on him, Hunter's sledgehammer in his hand. Dean tried to move, but it was too late. Baron was too close. He smashed the weapon against Dean's head, and Dean wasn't even aware that he was falling. He was already out cold.

* * *

"DEAN!" Seth had managed to stagger away from Owens just in time to see Dean fall to the ground. Baron and Breeze loomed over him, Baron with the sledgehammer and Breeze grabbing a chair. Hunter staggered to his feet, nose gushing blood, but a smile planted on his face. They hadn't thought about looking under the ring. Jimmy and Jey were coming down the ramp, and he knew Roman and the others would be coming from somewhere, but the damage was done. Dean was hurt. He was fucking hurt and Seth found himself moving, throwing himself recklessly towards Baron. A sledgehammer shot to the stomach made him fal short. He went down next, barely able to breathe. The only good thing that came from it was that hitting him distracted Baron enough so Jimmy could get on him and wrestle the sledgehammer away from him. Jey got on Tyler, and Hunter quickly moved out of the line of fire.

"Dean..." Seth could barely groan out his boyfriend's name. He tried to crawl over to him to check on him. Dean was hurt. Dean needed him. "Dean..."

Large hands grabbed him by the hair and yanked him up to his feet. He was rolled back into the ring by Owens. He tried to regain focus, knowing it was up to him to end this. He found himself being pushed into the ropes, Kevin attempting to go for the pop up powerbomb. Seth managed to leap frog over him and tried to roll him up. Two count only. Both got up to their feet. He kicked Owens in the stomach and bounced himself off the ropes. He jumped up, looking for the curbstomp. He never found it. As he was up in the air, Kevin moved out of the way. He landed on his feet and spun around right into a kick between the legs. The referee admonished Kevin, but there was really no point in it. Fatal four way meant no disqualification. Seth felt himself being positioned with his head between Kevin's legs. He expected the other man's arms to wrap around his middle for a powerbomb. Instead he felt Kevin's arms go underneath his and grab him by the knees. He was lifted up, held upside down and he panicked, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"Kevin!" the referee yelled. "Kevin no!"

Kevin came down with the package piledriver with as much force as he could muster. Pain shot from Seth's neck down to his arm - and then it went numb. His heart leapt up from his chest to his throat. He was aware of being rolled over on to his back. He heard the referee make the three count, but he couldn't kick out. His brain had focused on his numb arm and he felt sick to his stomach. _Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god..._

* * *

Roman found himself so busy patrolling the crowd entrances that he didn't know Tyler and Baron popped out from under the ring until Paige came running to tell him. He took off right then, not even asking if the others were heading out there. He took the stairs as fast as he could, nearly tripping and falling because he was so focused on watching what the cameras were showing on the titan tron. Dean was on the floor, completely knocked out. Hunter had retreated a bit, his nose bleeding like crazy. Jimmy and Jey had already made it down to brawl with Baron and Tyler. Stardust had retreated, deciding the Intercontinental title was not worth fighting Hunter's whole little army over. And then there was Seth and Kevin Owens, in the ring with the referee. Roman watched as Seth missed the curbstomp and got kicked between the legs. He tried to move faster as he watched Kevin set up for what he thought would be the powerbomb.

He was at the bottom of the staircase when Kevin came down with the piledriver instead.

He was almost by the barricade when the three count was made and the bell rang.

"Fuck!" Roman's heart fell as Kevin's music began to play. His stomach twisted at the sight of the man holding up the Intercontinental title along with his NXT one. He wanted to rip it right out of his hands. He didn't deserve it. Maybe he had managed to win the match, but he still didn't deserve it. He was a bully that happened to have some backing for whatever fucking reason. He couldn't let this stand. He hopped over the barricade and rushed into the ring as Kevin bailed right out of it. Hunter, Tyler and Baron were going right with him. Roman wanted to go after them. He almost did. Picking up the fight where Dean and Seth left off was the natural course of action. But as he went to go leave the ring and give chase, the referee's voice made him stop.

"He can't feel his arm Roman."

"What?" Roman turned back around, the urge to fight forgotten. He knelt down beside Seth, who was staring up at the ceiling with a very dazed and frightened look on his face. "Seth?" He stole a quick glance at Jimmy, who was checking on Dean alongside Jey. He returned his full gaze to Seth, wanting to touch him but becoming way too afraid to. "Seth?" He swallowed hard as the younger man's wide, brown eyes gave him a fearful look.

"Can't...Roman I can't...my arm..." Seth struggled to get the words out. Whether it was just the fear or getting dropped on his head that was making it hard for him to speak. "I can't feel it."

"It'll come back." Roman rushed to give the reassurance. He knew there was a possibility that he shouldn't say such a thing, but he didn't even want to consider that. "It's probably just a stinger. You'll get your feeling back real soon."

Seth whimpered and closed his eyes. Paramedics and trainers came into the ring, forcing Roman to step aside. He watched them work on Seth for a moment before looking out at the ones helping Dean. He still hadn't woken up. Roman was confused as to what he had gotten hit with until he saw the sledgehammer laying on the ground. He snarled, hating the sight of it. They weren't going to get away with this. There was absolutely no way he was going to let this stand.

"Roman."

Roman nearly jumped, startled by the unexpected arrival of AJ. "I'm gonna kill them," he declared. "I'll fucking kill them I swear to god."

She nodded, the eagerness over that plan very apparent. She looked tempted to advocate him going to do it now, but that had to be pushed aside. Vengeance could come later. "I'll ride with Seth," she said. There was no room for argument in her voice. "You go with Dean. He's gonna freak if he wakes up in that ambulance."

Dean was going to freak out once he woke up period, but Roman decided not to bring that up. Instead he just nodded, slipping out of the ring so he could follow Dean's stretcher to the back. He pushed aside one of the EMTs so he could grab Dean's hand. It wasn't really much, but it was all he could do at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that didn't go like the boys wanted.
> 
> With what I've got planned currently, we're entering the final few chapters.


	25. Chapter 25

The pain in his head was what woke Dean up. It felt like his skull was being split apart and his brain was being assaulted with some sort of blunt instrument. Opening his eyes made it even worse. Tears filled them and he let out a strained, miserable groan. He wanted to pass back out. Hell, he would take death itself as an alternative to feeling this. But neither option was coming. He was awake and he was staying that way. He groaned again. The light in whatever room he was in was way too bright. It made him hurt even worse, but he couldn't even ask to have it turned off. The words tried to leave him, but they just came out a jumbled mess. His stomach churned violently. He was gonna be sick but he couldn't bring himself to move. He was going to throw up and choke to death on his own vomit. What a fucked up way to go.

"Dean?"

Dean blinked and managed to look over without moving his head too much. Roman was there, sitting right by his side. "Ro?" he managed to croak out.

"I'm here." Roman grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. Fucking sap always had to do that shit. "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurts." That was the understatement of the century, but it was the only description he could really give.

"We can get you something for that." Roman started searching for the button that would call for a nurse. "Just hold on for a few minutes, okay?"

"Gonna be sick."

The search for the button ended in favor of Roman grabbing the bedpan. He managed to get Dean sat up and held the bedpan while he puked. Throwing up made Dean's head hurt even worse, but he couldn't even try to stop. Not until there was nothing left in his stomach anyway. He let out a miserable groan when he was done, wincing as Roman laid him back down against the mattress.

"I'm gonna get rid of this, alright?"

Dean mumbled his acknowledgement. He closed his eyes, though consciousness still stubbornly stuck with him. What the fuck had happened? He tried to put the pieces together. The last place he remembered being was in the match. Hunter had gotten in the way and then something had hit him so hard upside the head that there was nothing else. "Ro?" he opened his eyes as Roman sat back down in his chair. "What happened?"

"Corbin smashed your head pretty good with a sledgehammer," Roman answered. His eyes darkened a bit at his words. "He and Breeze were under the ring. We should have been ready for that, but we weren't."

"Fuck." Dean slowly raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. The cobwebs were starting to clear a bit more, leaving him aware that he was laying in a hospital room rather than back in the trainer's office. He froze, finally realizing that there was no Seth either. "Where's Seth?" He looked to Roman, who froze uncomfortably at the question.

"He's around," was what Roman chose to reply with.

"Where? Where is he?"

"Dean -"

"No. I want Seth."

"Let's just get the doctor and then -"

"No. Fuck you. I hate you. Give me Seth."

Roman sighed. "Dean...he's um...Seth's getting some tests done. You can't see him right now."

Dean just stared at him, needing longer than normal to process that statement. The meaning of the words slowly started to sink in. Seth was hurt. And he was surely hurt bad. "What happened?"

It seemed like answering that was the last thing Roman wanted to do. But there wasn't a whole lot of choice in the matter. Dean was giving him a desperate look, panic rising the longer he kept quiet. "It came down to him and Owens," he finally said. "Jimmy and Jey were fighting Baron and Tyler. I was trying to get down to the ring. Kevin hit him with the package piledriver. We think he got a stinger so they're checking it out right now."

Stinger. That word sunk in faster than anything else had so far. What if it wasn't just a stinger? What if it was a more severe neck injury? And he had let it happen. He hadn't been quick enough to dodge the sledgehammer blow. He hadn't been smart enough to think of Baron and Tyler coming up from under the ring. And now Seth was hurt, and he wanted to get sick all over again.

"Dean no." Roman shook his head as Dean started trying to get up. "You need to rest." He put his hands on Dean's chest and tried to push him back down. "Dean seriously. You're not going to help him by doing this. Lay down."

"Fuck off." Dean managed to push him away and started to get up. He had to get to Seth. But the moment he was up on his feet, his world started spinning. He felt himself falling, but he didn't hit the ground. Roman's hands caught him and forced him back down on the bed. "No." He stubbornly tried to get up again. "Let go."

"No Dean." Roman held him down, keeping his grip way too tight for Dean to slip out of. "Stop. Fucking rest. The instant I can get you to Seth I will. Just fucking rest until then."

Dean didn't want to rest. He wanted to see Seth. But the pounding in his head was too intense. A wave of dizziness hit him in full force, and he let the fight go out of him. Roman said something to him, but he didn't catch what it was. Rest. He could rest just long enough to get Roman off his ass and make his world stop spinning. Then he would get to Seth.

* * *

The feeling in Seth's arm came back nearly an hour after he lost it. It still felt weaker than the other one, but the numbness going away had him too relieved to really care. AJ stayed by his side through the whole thing, keeping watch as the doctor checked him over. He got the official stinger diagnosis, and he knew without having to be told that he would be missing a little ring time. Even if his symptoms cleared up before the night was over, he wouldn't be cleared by a WWE doctor. Allegations from former employees about injuries being mistreated had the higher ups taking extra precautions with injuries, especially when it came to head and neck ones.

"What about Dean?" Seth felt like he had already asked the question a million times. He was prepared to ask a million more so he could get an answer. "AJ come on. I gotta know." He swallowed hard, finding it difficult to manage it around the lump that had grown in his throat. "Is it...oh god, is he in a coma?"

AJ frowned. "What? No! Jesus. What Lifetime Channel movie have you been watching lately?"

"Well you've been all quiet and shit..."

She rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to make sure you got your ass actually checked by the doctor instead of trying to run off to him." She looked at her phone, scrolling through whatever texts she had been getting from Roman. "He's got a pretty bad concussion. There's no real memory loss, but he got sick and he about fell over when he tried to get up to come find you." She scrolled down further on her phone, rolling her eyes at what she saw next. "He called the doctor a cocksucker about every two seconds." She set her phone down and shook her head. "So I mean hey, his brain's scrambled, but not broken. Yay for that."

The words were only a small comfort. Seth still wanted - no, needed to see him. He needed to see for himself that he was at least trying to be the asshole he always was when he ended up in a hospital. He needed to make sure he settled down and let himself actually rest. He knew Roman would be trying to do the same thing, but Dean wasn't one who actually liked to listen. He only seemed apt to do it if Seth was right there by his side, easing the cooperation out of him. "What room?"

AJ frowned. "You know you just got told to rest."

"I'll rest with him." Seth saw her about to object and quickly looked to stop her. "You know you'd want the same thing if it was you and Paige here."

She groaned. "Not a fair argument bub." Fair or not, she got up to her feet and motioned for him to follow her. "Let's go before a nurse comes back and starts bitching."

Seth got up and sighed in relief as he followed her out of the room. He didn't give a shit if the doctors and nurses wanted to read him a riot act. They could do that until they were blue in the face. He would rest easier if he was with Dean.

"Dean would you just stop?" They heard Roman's exasperated voice before they even reached the room. "Seriously. I'm gonna strap you to that god damn bed if you don't knock it off."

"I can't fucking keep laying here," Dean snapped. "I need to see Seth."

"I told you that -"

"NOW!"

"Excuse me?"

"Boys!" AJ went in first, holding the door open for Seth and then closing it behind him. "Would you relax? I think the entire hospital can hear you two right now."

Roman threw his hands up in exasperation as Seth made a beeline for Dean's bed. "He's supposed to be resting too! Am I the only one who respects doctors' orders around here?"

Seth could have reminded him that he wasn't any different when he was the injured party, but he decided to let that go for now. Instead he kept his attention on Dean, who was trying to get up again. "Hey hey hey hey." He got there before Dean made it too far up, making him go still with a kiss. Dean melted into it, his mouth tasting like some kind of terrible mouthwash. Seth almost questioned why that was until he remembered that AJ had said he had gotten sick. Terrible mouthwash was a much better taste option than vomit.

Dean broke the kiss and cast a nervous look to his arms. "Can you feel 'em again?"

"Yeah," Seth assured him. "Don't feel that great, but I feel it." He reached up and brushed some strands of hair away from Dean's eyes. "What about your head?"

"I'll live." Dean settled back down on the bed, scooting over to leave enough space for Seth to lay with him. It wasn't anywhere near big enough for them to really be comfortable, but that didn't really matter all that much to them. Dean still locked an arm around Seth while Seth laid back and let his head rest against Dean's shoulder. Neither one of them noticed the looks AJ and Roman were exchanging. Seth was too busy grabbing Dean's other hand and lacing their fingers together.

"I lost your title." Seth was pretty sure that Dean probably had figured as much already, but he still felt the need to confess it. He felt awful about it. That had been Dean's title. He had been so proud to be champion. Even if he wasn't the type to go on and on about it, Seth had known it to be true. He saw it even before Dean had let him back into his life. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"But -"

"Don't." Dean wasn't about to hear it. "It don't matter."

Maybe it didn't in the grand scheme of things. Dean being okay was more important to him, and he knew that his well being was more important to Dean. Still, it was hard to shake off the guilty feeling. He tried to though. He focused on the feeling of Dean's hand in his. He focused on Dean pressing a kiss against his head as he tried to shift around and get more comfortable.

"We should go get some snacks." AJ grabbed Roman by the arm and started trying to pull him out of the room. "Come on. You need to buy me some chocolate."

"Me?" Roman eyed her like she had lost her mind. "You serious right now?"

"Yes." She tugged on his arm more, sighing impatiently when he still didn't move. "Roman!"

"Paige should be on her way. Why can't you wait for her to buy you a snack?"

"Because snacks taste better from men who are tall, dark, and handsome."

Roman just stared at her while Dean snickered and Seth rolled his eyes. The reasoning was completely ridiculous, but she had the ability to make it endearing. "Fine," Roman said. "I'll get you a candy bar."

"Yes!" She clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Hey Ro..." Seth decided to give it a shot. He wasn't even hungry, but the thought of it working was too funny to resist.

"No Seth."

"Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome -"

"Dean I swear I will punch you."

"But we're injured!" Seth pouted at him for extra emphasis.

Roman let out a defeated huff as he finally let AJ lead him out the door. "God fucking damn it."

* * *

Upon getting released from the hospital, Dean had it recommended to him that he get plenty of rest, avoid traveling by air and go see the doctor again by the end of the week. The no plane rule was a problem, because he wanted to stay with Seth, but he wasn't in the mood to drive all the way across the country to get down to Florida. Seth sensed that and volunteered to go to Vegas with him. Roman would go and pick up Kevin in Orlando and then take him home to babysit while Seth was away. AJ tried to volunteer for it, but Seth had said no. Dean figured that was a smart idea. He liked AJ and all, but he wouldn't put it past her to steal the dog. Small animals were a huge source of weakness for her.

Given how little time he had been spending there lately, coming back to Vegas felt weird. He shook that feeling off quickly, not caring enough to reallyd dwell on it. Instead he focused on thinking of all the things he wanted to do to Hunter and his little friends. Owens was the first on his list. Owens had to pay for hurting Seth. Even though he hadn't seen it for himself, he could still picture Owens doing it in rather vivid detail. He could perfectly see the fear that would have been on Seth's face as he realized he couldn't feel his arm. He could picture it all and it made him want to be sick. It was tempting to say to hell with his health and just go try to beat Owens up even with his concussion. If Seth hadn't come home with him, he probably would have done it.

The second night they were at the apartment, Dean found himself lounging on the couch with Seth. They were watching some TV show, though fuck if he knew what it was called. He hadn't been paying much attention. Seth hadn't been either. His eyes kept looking around the apartment, something clearly bothering him.

"It don't feel like a home."

The words made Dean frown. "What don't?"

Seth gestured his hand around wildly. "This. The apartment."

Dean looked around. There wasn't a whole lot of stuff to see. There was his TV, the couch they were sitting on and the chair. There were a few movies on a small shelf he had picked up at a garage sale. There was a table in the kitchen, his bed, his clothes and then...that was about it. It wasn't like Seth or Roman's places, which were littered with stuff. Their places looked more lived in. "Never been one for a lot of stuff. You know that."

"Well yeah," Seth admitted. "But like, when we lived together, you still had more shit. What happened?"

Dean shrugged, not wanting to answer that. He didn't want to really remember all of that. The day he had come home after the betrayal he had just sat in their apartment, too much in shock to do anything. Seth's stuff had been there still. He hadn't taken the time to move it to the new place he had already secretly rented out. The sight of it all had driven Dean over the edge. He had packed up some clothes and then just left, drifting aimlessly from hotel room to hotel room for two weeks before ending up in Vegas.

"Dean?" Seth frowned at the look on Dean's face.

"I tossed it all," Dean finally admitted.

"What?"

"I tossed it. I packed up my clothes and put everything else in the dumpster."

Seth just stared at him. "Are you serious?"

Dean shrugged. "Yeah."

"But why?'

"Don't wanna talk about it."

Seth gave him another look. It was one that said he wasn't about to drop the subject even when he should. "Dean..."

"It all reminded me of you." Dean didn't like saying the words. All it was going to do was make Seth feel bad, which he didn't want. But if Seth was going to keep asking, he didn't have a whole lot of choice but to tell him. "It just...all I could think about was you. Because like, you either gave me the stuff or I bought it with you. and I just...I couldn't..." He shook his head. "I trashed it and ran."

The guilt stricken look on Seth's face made Dean look away. That was why he hadn't wanted to say it. He was over it. He had Seth back. That was what mattered.

"Dean..."

"It's fine. Don't say my name like that."

"I'm sorry." Seth stubbornly grabbed Dean by the chin and forced him to turn his head back in his direction. "I can't fucking say that enough."

"You've said it enough." Dean put his hand over Seth's wrist. "It don't matter, okay? It don't fucking matter anymore." He saw the guilty look linger on, and he couldn't let it stand. He grabbed the front of Seth's shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. He pulled just a tad too hard though, and ended up smashing their noses together. "OW!"

"Jesus!" Seth pulled back and rubbed his nose gingerly. He tried to glare at Dean, but the sight of Dean pouting and rubbing his own nose made him let out a rather boyish giggle.

"Stop it." Dean narrowed his eyes and swatted wildly at him. "S'not funny."

"Right." Seth managed to compose himself and leaned in to kiss Dean's nose. His lips were barely an inch away from it before he started laughing all over again.

"Dick face." Despite pushing Seth away and getting up, Dean found himself laughing too now. "I hope I broke yours too mother fucker."

"Remember the first time I rimmed you and you actually did break my nose?"

Dean's face turned red. "Remember when we promised not to talk about that?"

"We did?"

"Well yeah. I mean, we were drunk, but I still made you swear." Dean narrowed his eyes. "Who the fuck did you tell?"

"Uh...Roman..."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Of course you did."

"And Tamina."

"Seth seriously?"

"And maybe Jey too, but I think that was it."

"SETH!"

Seth put his hands up in surrender. "I couldn't help it! They tricked me with booze!"

Dean groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. "If they ever bring that up, I'm killing them and then strangling you. Got it?"

Seth saluted him. "Got it."


	26. Chapter 26

Seth couldn't sleep. It wasn't an unusual problem by any means. In the months following the betrayal, he had suffered through plenty of sleepless nights. What was unusual was the fact that Dean was sleeping. His insomnia was well documented, but here he was, sleeping as soundly as could be. Seth was happy about that. The doctor had stressed that Dean needed rest, so he was glad he was actually getting it for once.

Seth slipped out of bed and went to the living room. He briefly considered turning on the TV, but quickly decided against it. He would have to keep it nearly on mute in order not to wake up Dean, which made it really not worth it. Instead he went to the window so he could watch what was going on outside. Given how late it was, most of what he saw was a few stray cars going down the street. The rest was a couple of squirrels running up a tree and a group of college kids laughing and drunkenly stumbling over their own two feet. The sight made Seth smile to himself. He hadn't any wild college days, but he had made up for that in developmental. There hadn't been much to do after they ran the old FCW shows, so he, Dean, Roman, AJ, Kaitlyn, Naomi, Derrick Bateman and Johnny Curtis would go to any semi-seedy bars they could find and stay there until it was either closing time or they got kicked out. The latter happened quite a bit, given how many times Dean and Johnny started chaos. Johnny was always stealing someone's girlfriend and causing a fight, while Dean just pissed off the wrong people by being his usual obnoxious self.

The college kids disappeared around the corner. Seth sighed and just looked down at the empty street now. He envied those kids so much. No matter what was going on in their lives, odds were it was much more simple than what he and Dean were dealing with. He wished that they could somehow go back to something easier. There had been their first days as the Shield, where the biggest thing they ever worried about was who they were going to destroy next. Or maybe even their FCW days. Back then it had just been a circle of fighting and fucking and drinking. Rinse, wash, repeat. So simple. He could do that again easily.

"Seth? The fuck are you doing?"

Seth tore his eyes away from the window to look back at Dean. He was standing just a couple feet away, his hair a mess and his eyes half open. "Fuck. Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah jackass." Dean's voice was even lower than normal from his exhaustion. "You left and made the bed cold." He closed the distance between them and grabbed Seth by the hand. "Come on. Come back to bed."

Seth made no argument. He let Dean drag him back to the bedroom, smiling as Dean laid on his side first before pulling Seth down behind him. He made sure Seth's arm was tightly wrapped around him before he let go of his hand. "There. That's better."

Seth smirked. "You know, there was a time that I never pegged you for a little spoon."

"M'not a little spoon," Dean denied with a huff.

"Then what do you call this?" Seth started placing kisses on the back of Dean's neck. "Because I'm feeling pretty big spoony back here."

"Spoony isn't even a word asshole." Dean rolled over so he was facing Seth.

"We can pretend it is."

"No we can't."

"We pretend things are words if it's you saying them."

Dean grumbled something unintelligible before kissing Seth. Seth returned it happily. The kisses stayed slow and lazy at first. Dean was still tired and Seth didn't want to push and get him more awake than he already was. But gradually they became more urgent. Seth's leg ended up thrown over Dean's, pushing them even closer together. Dean's hand slid down the back of Seth's sweatpants and gave his ass a rough squeeze.

"Fuck." Seth broke the kiss and moved his head back just enough to look at Dean. "We're never going to get any sleep if you do that shit. You know that right?"

"Who needs sleep anyway?" Dean squeezed Seth's ass again, digging his blunt nails into his skin.

"You do. Remember what the doctor said?"

"Fuck that shit." Dean moved his hand so he could roll himself on top of Seth. His mouth reclaimed Seth's, his kisses eagerly swallowing down Seth's objections. His hands roamed Seth's body, moving under his shirt to leave scratches across his tan skin. Seth moaned, which made Dean break the kiss to laugh at him. "You're so easy."

"Fuck you." The words had no real venom. The most Seth could manage was a half ass attempt to bite at Dean's lower lip, which he easily avoided.

"Nah, I wanna fuck you instead." Dean lowered his head back down and started placing kisses all across Seth's neck. "Should have fucked you earlier. Maybe you'd be sleeping."

"Maybe." Seth tilted his head back to give Dean better access.

"The fuck were you doing up anyway?"

Seth shrugged.

Dean stopped and pushed himself up so he could look Seth in the eye. "Come on. What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that shit. You're always on my ass for not communicating. What is it?"

Seth still hesitated, searching for a way to say this without sounding stupid. "It's just...I don't know. I just wish things were easier. I don't want to fight some fucking war against Hunter again. Not if you're gonna get hurt."

Dean groaned. "Seth come on. We've already been over this. You really think this concussion shit is gonna stop me?"

"Technically it is," Seth reminded him. "You're not gonna be cleared to come back for awhile. Hell, I might be cleared to come back before you."

"Maybe you will be. That don't mean I'm gonna let this shit fucking stop me, you know?" He rolled off of Seth and leaned over to turn on the bedside lamp before sitting up. "We got our asses kicked. It's happened before and it's gonna happen again. I like getting into trouble and your face has a certain punchable quality about it. It's unavoidable."

Seth's lips twitched. "You still think my face is punchable?"

"I'm just going off what history has shown me, alright? I actually really wanted to fuck your face the first time I saw it, but uh..."

Seth rolled his eyes. Dean had done that more times than either of them could ever count.

"No but really, quit being being so fucking mopey." Dean grabbed his face and used his thumbs to try to force Seth to smile. "Seriously. It's not gonna do anything but give you fucking wrinkles."

Seth jerked his head out of Dean's grip. "How the fuck is it gonna give me wrinkles?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. AJ told me that though and she's like, pretty smart or whatever."

"Right." Seth wasn't entirely sure if this was right, but he wasn't going to argue with it. Instead he pulled Dean back into a laying position, wrapping an arm around him before burying his face in the crook of his neck. "What are you going to do if they tell me to come back before you?"

"I don't know. Probably hang around here. Keep myself busy in the desert and the casino." Dean seemed not at all bothered by his answer until Seth looked at him with a frown. "What? It's a pretty good plan."

It didn't sound like one to Seth. "You know you could go down to Tampa. Stay with Roman's parents or something."

Dean frowned. "I'm a grown ass fucking man. Why would I want to stay with Roman's parents?"

"Then come to Orlando and stay at my house. Drake and Sami and Big Cass are all down there." Seth saw that Dean was about to start objecting again and rushed to cut him off. "I just don't like the thought of you being here alone."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh god. I actually forgot how much of a sap you can be."

"I'm not a sap!"

"You are too! You're acting like I'm not a big boy who can stay in his own apartment."

"That's not what I'm saying." Seth traced circles over Dean's chest, struggling with what he could say that would maybe win him this argument. "I just..." The real reason came to him right in that second and he realized that Dean was completely right. He was actually just a fucking sap. "I want you to come home."

Dean stayed quiet at that. Seth thought about looking to see the expression on his face, but decided against it. Instead he closed his eyes and kept himself tightly wrapped around Dean, sleep not coming any easier now than before.

* * *

There was a Crossfit gym on the other side of the city, so Seth was more than happy to go to that. Dean turned down the offer to join him, saying he wasn't up for it. That wasn't really a lie. He was never really up for the whole Crossfit bullshit. He would rather go out and run or hike to get his exercise in. But in this case, his refusal wasn't just about their differences in routine. He wanted to call Roman, and he didn't want Seth accidentally overhearing their conversation. The stuff Seth had said to him about coming home had been weighing heavily on his mind. Staying a weekend down there with Seth or Roman was one thing. He didn't necessarily have an issue of that. That wasn't Seth was asking though. He had tried to make it like that, but then he had said the word. Home. He wanted him to come home. And Dean had no idea what to do or say about that.

He flopped down on the couch, his phone pressed to his ear. Roman's was ringing. It just kept ringing, and Dean started to get worried that he wouldn't answer it. "Come on Ro." He chewed on his thumbnail, his foot tapping in the air as he continued to wait. "Don't fucking fail me now asshole."

"Hello?" Roman finally answered right before it would have went to voicemail.

"Hey." Dean did his best to keep his tone casual. "What's up?"

"Naomi told Nattie how long I've been single so she tried to set me up with her sister."

Dean snorted. "You tell her you're not into women?"

"Yeah, so now she's trying to set me up with either Orton or Cesaro. I can't win Dean. I just can't."

"Hey, in all fairness, you really do need to get laid again. Go with Cesaro though. He's less of a dick than Orton."

Roman sighed in exasperation. "I'm not fucking Cesaro."

"Come onnnn Romeo. Let him woo you with his Swiss chocolate."

"...I can't even believe you just said that to me. We're never speaking of that again."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever man."

"What about you?" Roman pointedly changed the topic. "How are you and Seth doing?"

Dean shifted around a bit. "Fine. We're fine."

Roman caught the edge in Dean's voice as he spoke. "What is it?" He wasn't going to waste time by not asking. "What happened?"

Normally Dean would have dragged his feet about the subject, but he didn't have that kind of time to waste. "Seth and I were like talking and shit. He was being all worried about what I'm gonna do if he's put back on the road before me."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I'd stay here. And then he got all weird on me. Said I should stay with your parents, or like, stay at his house because there's a bunch of people that live by him that I know." Dean slipped a hand under his shirt to scratch his stomach. "Then we kind of argued and then he said he wanted me to come home."

Roman stayed silent for a very long few moments. "Come home? As in like come live with him again?"

Dean took his hand away from his stomach and threw it up in the air wildly. "I don't know! I didn't really ask and he really didn't elaborate. But I think that's what he might have meant. And I don't know what the fuck to do." He let his hand drop down to his side and sighed. "Should I fucking ask him to elaborate? Should I just ignore it? I mean, I kind of want to ignore it."

"You shouldn't ignore it." Of course Roman automatically said. He was never on board with what Dean said. "You should talk to him."

Dean groaned. "I just...what do you think I should do? I mean, if that's what he does want?"

"Do you want my honest opinion or just what you want to hear?"

Dean frowned. "When the fuck don't I want you to be honest?"

Roman's scoffing noise was the only answer he got to that. "Look, if I was you, I wouldn't move back in with him. Not yet anyway. That's going kind of fast. But I mean, the you coming back to Florida thing is something I'd be happy about. Like, I know why you moved away. I get it. But you're so isolated out there and I worry about you."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh god. Calm down mother hen. You know I can take care of myself."

"I know that Dean. But like...you're my best friend. Of course I'd want your stupid ass closer to me."

"Saaaaap." Despite his accusation, Dean did crack a smile.

"Yeah yeah yeah." Roman took the insult in stride. "It's not even practical that you live out there anyway. You're either coming here to see me, or you've been coming to see him. Like, maybe you should come back and get your own place. Start like that and then build up to moving in with him."

Dean thought that over. "You know what's gonna happen don't you? I'm gonna sign a damn lease and spend like no time there because I'll either be practically moved in with him, or staying with you."

"Is that any different than how it's going now?" Roman replied. "I mean, at least with this, if you get pissed off at him or me, you don't got to hop on a plane to get home."

That was a good point. One that was too good to ignore really.

"Talk to him first." Roman made a point to stress that. "You don't actually got to do anything that you don't want to do, alright?"

"Yeah." Dean rolled off the couch and stood up. "I got ya."

"Good."

"Ro?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Any time."

* * *

Seth hummed under his breath as he put the chicken in the oven. After he had gotten done at the gym he had gone to the store to pick up some food. Dean's kitchen looked like it had never really been used, so he wanted to break it in himself. Dean of course, was banished from the room entirely for this process. It felt like fires started when he just looked at a stove. Seth wasn't looking to take a chance on that.

With the chicken in the oven and the potatoes sitting on the counter for later on, Seth came out of the kitchen and searched for Dean. He found him in his bedroom, looking at something on a very large, and probably outdated laptop. "What ya doin?" Seth plopped down next to him and peeked at the screen. His eyes didn't immediately go to what was on the screen. Instead the browser of choice was what got him. "Dude, Internet Explorer? Are you serious?"

Dean frowned as he looked at him. "What?"

"That's like the shittiest browser ever. Why are you on that?"

"...Because it came with the computer?" Dean was looking at him like he had grown a second head. "Why the fuck does it matter?"

"It matters because -" Seth stopped right there. There was no point in explaining. Dean wouldn't give a shit. He wasn't a computer guy. The fact that he even had this at all was shocking. "Never mind. Where the fuck did you even get this?"

"Pawn shop."

"Pawn shop?" Seth rolled his eyes as he saw Dean was serious. "Jesus Dean."

"Jesus yourself Seth." Dean elbowed him in the ribs. "I don't need you giving me attitude."

"I'm not giving you attitude." Seth forced himself to not think about the browser and actually look at what Dean was doing. His eyes widened as he realized he was on a website that had a listing of apartments to rent in Orlando. "Dean..."

"Yeah uh...Ro said we should talk about this or whatever." Dean shrugged and closed the laptop. "I mean, you said you wanted me to come home and shit. And like...I don't know if you meant move back in with you or whatever. And I don't know if that's like a good idea or whatever. I mean, I'll probably just end up in your fucking place all the time anyway, but like...there's not a real point in me staying out here. Not if I'm always coming to see you. And Roman's down there too. And I can like, go bug Roman's mom for cookies and shit a lot easier." He shrugged, growing nervous as Seth just let him talk. "Unless you like, changed your mind or whatever. I can stay here in Vegas if -"

Seth cut him off with a kiss. His mind was not changed. Far from it. He broke the kiss as suddenly as he started it, smiling as Dean smirked at him. "I love you."

Dean nipped at his bottom lip playfully. "Love ya too."


	27. Chapter 27

Dean found himself a little apartment in Orlando that wasn't too far from Seth's place. Roman and AJ had both tried to tell him to look at several places; Roman wanted to make sure he was actually considering his options while AJ just wanted to go with him and look so she could go back to Paige and get on her ass about all the nice places that were down there. Dean hadn't been interested in the whole big search though. Not when he knew how this was going to end. It felt like a waste of time to even sign the lease, but he knew that he needed to actually try to go by Roman's advice. Starting slow was better. Moving back to Florida was a big enough step on its own. They didn't need to rush anything else.

"I'm gonna fucking drop this thing."

"You better fucking not drop this thing. Not if I'm holding up my half."

"Would you guys move it? This table is really awkward to hold."

Dean rolled his eyes and tapped his foot impatiently. He had already put his box of stuff in what was going to be his bedroom and was waiting at the open door for the others. Roman had taken the liberty of buying him some furniture (mostly knowing that Dean would probably just get lazy and not bother to do it) and had recruited Seth and Dolph to help move it in. Seth and Roman were trying to get the couch up the stairs, while Dolph and Finn (whom Dolph brought along for the ride) were behind them with the table.

"You think that table is hard to hold?" Seth's voice rose to a god awful octave as he snapped at Dolph. "Try holding this couch."

"You know, he probably would actually do a better job than you," Roman snapped.

"Oh fuck off. I hope you fall so I can let this thing crush you."

"Boys!" Dean poked his head out the door to give them an admonishing look. "Don't make me come over there. Might have to spank you if I do."

"You spank me and you're not gonna have either of your hands anymore." Roman craned his head back to glare at him. "Not get out of the way. We need to get in here."

Dean thought about staying where he was just to be difficult, but then decided against it. With the way Roman was acting, it was entirely possible that he would turn around and knock his lights out. He wasn't really looking to have that happen on the very first day he was here. Maybe he'd be more open to it tomorrow, but not today.

"Okay just...Seth just fucking hang on to it. We're almost in." Roman backed into the apartment first, giving Dean a nod for not being difficult and actually moving. "Here we are. Let's just put it down over here. Come on."

"The fuck did you even have to get this one for?" Seth grumbled. "You could have gotten a smaller one. Would have been easier."

"Well I wasn't counting on you being such a wimp."

Dean shook his head and looked to Dolph and Finn, who were just coming in. "You can just put that down in here if you want. I can shove it into the kitchen later."

"Nah, it's good," Dolph assured him. "We can make it, right Finn?"

"Right," Finn agreed.

"Whatever." Dean got out of their way and made sure they made it to the kitchen before looking back at Roman and Seth. Seth had sat down on the couch, totally pouting while Roman just looked annoyed. "Oh jesus christ you guys." He shook his head and glared at the both of them. "You're both being stupid. You got the damn couch in here, so buck the fuck up." He flopped down on the couch and put an arm around Seth. "You two owe me that since you didn't talk AJ out of making me host a house warming party."

Roman winced. AJ and Paige were staying with Dolph for the next few days for this very reason. They were currently at the store getting food and whatever else they decided was needed. "You know we can't talk baby girl out of anything. That's just a rule of life."

That was true. Dean couldn't deny that one. "How many people did she even invite?" Dean silently prayed that it wasn't the entire roster. They couldn't fit that many people in this place.

"I don't think it'll be that bad," Seth assured him. "Finn's got a house show tonight and Dolph's going with him so it'll be the three of us, AJ, Paige, Jimmy -"

"Naomi's filming for Total Divas with Alicia and Jey's kid has a soccer game," Roman filled in.

"Then Nattie's coming with Cesaro and Randy because she's trying to set Roman up and she wants me to die." Seth made a face as he spoke. "Seriously. Randy still fucking hates my ass so much. I'm gonna fucking die here tonight."

"You ain't dying any time." Dean grabbed Seth's chin and turned his head so he could kiss him hard on the lips. "You got me? I'll fucking skin his ass alive if he touches you."

Seth grinned. "You're so sweet."

"Yeah, because threatening to commit murder is just the sweetest thing ever." Roman rolled his eyes as he went ignored in favor of more kissing. "Guys. Seriously. You have got to get out of this honeymoon phase sometime soon. You're driving me fucking crazy."

Dean pulled his lips off of Seth's and smirked. If Roman thought he was being driven crazy now, maybe they needed to turn it just a little bit. "You wanna go get the bed so we can fuck on it?"

Seth grinned. "Thought you'd never ask."

"Oh my god." Roman groaned. "You two are just...you know what? Fuck you. I'm done. Just fuck you guys."

"Oh you want to join us again Romeo?" Dean wagged his eyebrows obnoxiously. "We can get you laid here real quick."

Roman flipped him off before storming to the kitchen.

Seth snickered. "You know, he never actually refused."

"Yeah, I think he's definitely getting desperate." Dean stood up and grabbed Seth's hand to pull him up too. "Maybe we should just let him fuck Orton. He won't complain about us if he's always getting it too."

"We could buy him a hooker instead," Seth suggested. "A hooker won't want to put my head on a stick."

"Unless we accidentally hire a hooker who's also a serial killer."

Seth just stared at him.

"What?" Dean shrugged his shoulders. "It happens."

"How would you - oh forget it. I don't even want to know."

* * *

The party went as smooth as any of the ones they ever threw did. AJ buying more food than she did booze helped with that. Seth didn't even find it that hard to avoid Randy. Natalya kept him busy by trying to hook him up with Roman. None of the parties involved seemed remotely comfortable with the idea, but Seth got to keep his life, so he was okay with it. He just kept himself with Dean, who spent most of his night getting dance lessons from Jimmy. Why Jimmy thought it was a good idea Seth didn't know. The kinds of moves Jimmy could pull off flawlessly were done with about as much grace as an ogre with two left feet when Dean tried them. But he seemed so pleased with himself that Seth didn't have the heart to tell him he sucked. Instead he just made sure he kept a drink in front of his face to hide his laughter.

"I think I pulled something," Dean complained later on. They were laying in bed, covered up in extra blankets Seth had brought over from his place. Dean needed to go shopping for some of his own, but these were going to do for now.

Seth stifled back a laugh. "You should have known you couldn't match Jimbo. He's too good."

Dean pouted at him. "I was good too asshole."

"I didn't say you weren't." Seth crawled on top of Dean and took his lower lip with his teeth. He tugged on it gently, not letting go until Dean let out a long moan. "You still gonna be up for fucking me? I'd hate to have to go jack off in your bathroom."

"Oh I'm always up for fucking you." Dean arched his hips up, pressing his hardening cock against Seth's ass. "I think I might need you to ride me though. Think that might be better for me."

"Oh yeah?" Seth grinded down against Dean's groin, making him moan again. "You think that's what you need?"

"Fuck yeah." Dean surged his head upwards, capturing Seth's mouth in a kiss. His hands pulled at Seth's underwear, which was the only item of clothing either of them were wearing. Seth shifted his hips to make Dean's efforts easier before moving himself down Dean's body. His mouth trailed kisses and light bites over Dean's chest and stomach, his fingers teasing the waistband of his underwear.

"Don't fucking tease." Dean pushed himself up on his elbows to glare down at him.

"No?" Seth slowly pulled off Dean's underwear and tossed them aside. "What if it sounds fun?"

"Fun to who? That don't - ohhh fuck." The rest of what Dean was about to say was lost as Seth wrapped his hand around his cock and slowly licked up the underside of it.

Oh yeah, this was definitely fun. Seth licked all the way up to the tip before he wrapped his mouth around the head and lightly sucked it. His hands grabbed Dean's hips to keep him from thrusting up into his mouth. Immediately he felt Dean's fingers in his hair, twisting and trying to push him lower. He refused to move his head, instead continuing to just tease the head.

"Fucking...fuck come on." Dean tried to growl it out as a command, but it came out as a broken plea.

Seth chuckled before sucking a little harder, his head bobbing a bit faster to match it. His hands stayed on Dean's hips, his grip growing tighter as he felt Dean struggle harder to get free. Part of him wanted to keep doing this. He wanted to see how much Dean could take. He wanted to drive Dean to the edge only to pull back and not let him go over. He wanted to make Dean beg - no, grovel for it. But the thought of being straddled over Dean and desperately riding him was too much for him to resist. He pulled his mouth away from Dean's cock and scrambled off the bed, retrieving the lube that Dean still had in his bag. He came back to the bed and straddled Dean's waist. Dean pulled him back down for a kiss, his tongue eagerly slipping into Seth's mouth. Seth closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the kiss before reluctantly breaking it. He rushed to squeeze some of the lube on to his hand, sloppily coating Dean's length with it before reaching around and pressing two slick fingers inside of himself. His prep was hurried, his patience for it not even existing. Before he was even ready he took his fingers out and slid down on to Dean's cock. They both groaned, Seth's eyes inadvertently welling up at the burning he felt.

"Are you okay?" Dean reached up and cupped his face with both hands. "Jesus Seth. I didn't say fucking hurt yourself."

"I'm fine," Seth insisted through gritted teeth.

"Are you sure?"

"Just give me a minute."

Dean nodded, keeping still until Seth started to slowly rock his hips. Seth shivered, the burning fading away in favor of the pleasure. He moved Dean's hands down to his hips, making him grip them and guide his movements. Dean smirked and gladly took the control. His fingers gripped Seth tightly, his own hips thrusting upwards as he brought Seth down more on his cock.

"Fuck!" Seth threw his head back and moaned. "Dean...fuck!"

"Fucking so beautiful like this." Dean's voice dropped into a low, almost possessive growl. His hips snapped up hard over and again, drawing out more moans from Seth. "I fucking love watching you ride my cock." One of his hands left Seth's hips in order to grab Seth by the hair and pull his head down towards him. Seth thought he was going for a kiss, but instead his head was jerked to the side so Dean could lick a long stripe from his neck to his ear. "Nobody's ever fucking looked better doing it" He forced Seth to stop for a moment, earning a whine from the younger man. "Oh yeah, you fucking love it too, don't you? Fucking slut for my cock."

Seth really needed to stop listening because Dean talking like this was going to kill him.

"You sit yourself up now and fucking stroke yourself while you ride me. Give me a show."

Seth wasn't about to refuse that order. He pushed himself back up, keeping one hand on Dean's chest to steady himself as he wrapped the other around his cock. He started rocking his hips, getting to the speed Dean demanded before he began stroking himself. "Fuck!" His eyes fluttered, begging to close despite his best efforts to keep them open. He wanted to watch Dean's face as he rode him. "Dean...fuck you're so good." He stroked himself faster, whining at the completely entranced look Dean was giving him. "So fucking good."

"You gonna cum for me Seth?" Dean placed a hand over Seth's to help him stroke himself. "Come on. That's it. Fucking cum for me."

Seth moaned, his movements becoming more frantic. A few more strokes of his cock combined with a few more hard thrusts and more lustful cooing from Dean brought him over the edge. His eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head, but he didn't stop. Not until he felt Dean's release spill inside of him. Dean moaned something that sounded like his name. Seth couldn't really tell though. He let himself collapse down, his limps weak and shaky. Dean's arms wrapped around him, holding him tight as he started whispering in his ear. Seth wasn't anywhere near actually listening, but that didn't matter. It sounded sweet enough to bring a smile to his face anyway.

* * *

"Come on...come on! Let's fucking do this!" Yelling at the TV like a nutcase was something Dean tried not to do anymore. Not after his old neighbors had gotten so concerned one time that they had called the cops. But this couldn't be helped. He was sitting at home watching Seth and Roman team up on Raw. Seth had gotten cleared before him, which bothered him to no end. Seth was the one whose arm had gone numb from his injury. He should have been given more time. But given some lawsuits that had been placed against the company, they were being babies about letting Dean back in the ring. It was driving him absolutely crazy. He was ready to get back in there. He wanted - no, NEEDED to fight.

"Roman! Jesus keep going! Don't fucking try to hype the damn crowd!" Dean was nearly ready to pull his hair out. Roman and Seth were teaming up to face Owens and Breeze. Hunter was missing tonight, but Corbin was still lurking around and being a menace. Roman was readying to hit the spear on Breeze and Dean wished he would just do it already. It felt like too much time was being wasted.

Corbin hopped up on to the ring apron right on cue. Roman started going for him, but Seth pulled the larger man down and threw him over the announce table. Owens hit Seth hard from behind. Roman reached over the top rope and grabbed Owens, actually picking him up by his head and pulling him up on to the apron. Owens grabbed Roman's head and dropped down, making his throat hit the rope as he went. Roman stumbled back, letting Tyler hit the Beauty Shot and pick up the win for his team.

"Fuck!" Dean threw his remote across the room in frustration. "God fucking damn it!" He stood up and stormed into the kitchen, punching the fridge once in there. It killed him to see that. Seth and Roman had that. The match had been theirs to win. But the numbers game just kept catching up on them. It was maddening, especially considering how that was the shit they used to be so good at.

Dean stopped right then, the idea popping into his head with such clarity that he felt stupid for not thinking of it before. Hunter and his boys wanted to play the numbers game? Fine. That was the game they could play. And they were going to win. Dean would make sure of it, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

* * *

"You sure your head's okay?" Seth knew Dean was tired of him asking it, but he couldn't help. Especially not with where they were. Dean was returning to night, a fact that they had worked hard to keep secret. They had snuck into the arena way before anyone else and had been hiding out in a small room near the basement. Roman had gotten them a monitor to watch the show on. Owens, Corbin and Breeze were supposed to be taking on Dolph and the Usos tonight. The match wasn't going to happen thought. Not if they had their way.

"It's fine," Dean insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes dammit. I'm more pissed that you got me wearing this stupid vest again." Dean tried to undo it, only to have Seth slap it away. "Oh come on! You know I hate this!"

"Deal with it just for tonight," Seth insisted. "Let us look all unified and shit."

Dean grumbled angrily under his breath, but let the subject drop for now. Seth nodded in satisfaction before looking to Roman. "How much time do we got?"

"None. Hunter's boys are heading to the ring." He jerked his head to the door. "You ready?"

Seth felt like he was lying by nodding. He didn't feel totally ready. What if this didn't work? Nothing else had so far. But this was their best shot. Hell, this was their only real shot. This was the only thing left that could maybe work.

Dean took the lead going out the door. Seth followed him, leaving Roman to bring up the rear. Seth kept his gaze straight ahead, trying not to focus on the double takes they were getting as they went. He needed to focus. They were going to war. After so long it was them against the world yet again.

Sierra Hotel India Echlo Lima Delta...

Roman having connections in the production truck led to their old entrance theme being busted out. The fans exploded upon hearing it; they had been waiting for Dolph and the Usos to come out instead. They looked all around, finding them making their way through the crowd. The nerves Seth been feeling faded away. Instead he focused on Hunter going absolutely ballistic in the ring. This wasn't what he had expected. Owens was fuming, Breeze looked confused and Corbin...well he looked about as stoic as always. That probably wasn't ever going to change.

Everything started turning into a blur once they hopped the barricade. Seth was faintly aware of taking part of a brawl. He acted purely on instinct, taking out Tyler with a curbstomp while Roman laid out Corbin with a spear and Dean whacked Owens with a chair enough times to dent it all to shit. Hunter stood there, shock rooting him to the spot. It wasn't until they all looked to him that he realized how much he fucked up.

"Guys, take it easy..."

Easy. Right. Like that was going to happen. They jumped him all at once, throwing wild punches and kicks down on him. The crowd kept going crazy, chanting how awesome it all was. Seth couldn't help but grin. This did feel pretty fucking awesome.

"Get his fucking ass up!" Roman shouted.

"You pick him up asshole!" Despite his own words, Dean helped Seth pick Hunter up off the mat. They let Roman do his little roar thing before placing him up on his shoulders. Seth didn't know about Roman, but he knew that he and Dean put as much force into the triple powerbomb as they could. It had been a long time coming. Seth couldn't have felt happier about it if he tried.

Dean stuck his fist out first, dimples on full display as he grinned. "Fucking told you this would work. Fucking didn't I say it?"

Roman rolled his eyes and stuck his fist out next. "Yeah. You did."

Dean looked pleased and looked to Seth next. Seth was tempted to grab him and just kiss him senseless in front of everyone. How he resisted he didn't know. But somehow he just stuck his own fist out instead, a smile spreading across his own face. The war wasn't going to be over any time soon, but that didn't matter. He had gotten back what he had tossed away. He was home. He felt at fucking home right there and he wasn't going to let it go. Not ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the epilogue, which feels really weird to say considering how long I've been attached to this story.


	28. Chapter 28

"Dean! Dean you better not be getting into that pie!"

Dean froze, his current bite already in his mouth. He had already ate one whole piece and was on his second one. Seth had left the pie to cool on the table and went to go bathe Kevin. Dean had chosen then to strike. He knew it was an asshole move, but he knew that there were two more pies that Seth could easily stick in the oven and have ready in time for Roman's Christmas party. It wasn't even until the next night. Why Seth thought he could torment him with pie he couldn't eat for a whole day was something he could get away with.

"Dean I swear you better not have done it." Footsteps rapidly approached the kitchen, leaving Dean no time to hide the evidence of his wrong doing. "I promised Roman's mom three pies and - Dean god damn it!" He stopped right at the doorway, his hands going up in exasperation.

"In my defense, you know cherry is my favorite." Dean pushed his plate away, deciding it was best not to take another bite and piss Seth off more. "You should have made some lemon or lime shit if you wanted me to stay out of it."

Seth narrowed his eyes. Getting that dose of truth was not helping to make him any less exasperated. "Dean come on! You're a grown man. If I tell you to stay out of the pie, you should be able to stay out of it!" He huffed out a long sigh. "Now I got to go back to the store and get another one."

"But you have two more in the damn freezer!"

"And did you not hear the part where I said I promised to bring three?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "If you don't show up with three she's not even going to notice. She'll show up with enough food to feed us all like twenty times over."

"You know that's not the point." Seth stared at the piece Dean had been in the midst of eating and shook his head. "Just finish the damn thing. It's too late to just stop now."

Dean pouted. Pie wasn't as fun to enjoy if he was going to get a guilt trip over it. "You're not really mad at me are you?"

Seth made a point of ignoring him in favor of getting one of the other pies out of the freezer.

"Oh come on!" Dean got up and walked over to where Seth was standing. "Babe seriously. Don't be mad." He let Seth put the pie on the stove before wrapping his arms around him from behind. "It's just a stupid pie." He rested his chin against Seth's shoulder. "I'll go to the damn store and buy another one. Hell, I'll even cook it too."

Seth snorted. "God no. You'll burn this whole place to the ground." He turned around and rolled his eyes as Dean pouted at him. "Oh god. Don't give me that face."

Dean stuck his lower lip out even further, giving Seth his best puppy dog eyes while he was at it.

"Oh for fuck's sake." Seth sighed in defeat before kissing Dean. It was a sign of forgiveness that Dean took happily. His arms tightened around Seth's waist, though they didn't really deepened the kisses. They kept them slow and lazy, Seth eventually being the one who broke it. "I'm throwing you under the bus," he declared. "If they ask where the other pie is I'm telling them you ate the whole thing."

Dean smirked. "Well I guess I shouldn't make a liar out of you then." He let go of Seth and went back to the table, reclaiming his slice of pie so he could start eating it again.

"You're not really - oh jesus, yeah you are." Seth shook his head before grabbing a plate and fork of his own. "Fuck it." He sat down and got himself a slice as well. "Just fuck it."

Dean smirked but decided against saying anything. Instead they ate in silence, letting the peace settle in between them. In the months they and Roman had battled Hunter and his boys, peace wasn't something they had gotten often. Back and forth they had gone, doing everything they could against each other. Seth had managed to get the Intercontinental title away from Owens in a street fight, but that victory was barely savored before Baron was costing Roman his world title during his match against Bray Wyatt. Survivor Series had been the final battle. A four on three handicap match pitting them against Corbin, Breeze, Owens and Hunter in a no holds barred war. Dean had gotten them the win, taking Hunter down with a sledgehammer blow to the head. It was a victory that would never stop tasting sweet.

When they were done Seth put their dishes in the sink while Dean went into the living room. He grabbed the remote and flopped down on the couch. He turned on the TV and started going through the channels, barely holding back a smile as Seth and Kevin both joined him. They spent almost all their nights like this. Dean had moved out of his apartment a couple of weeks ago and was officially living with Seth now. It wasn't a drastic change; Dean had been there pretty much every night anyway. But now it was actually done, and he felt all settled and shit. This was home. This was his family. He felt like such a sap for the warm, fluttery feeling that formed in his chest, but it stayed just the same.

Seth leaned over and rested his head on his shoulder. "Can we watch Rudolph again?"

Dean groaned. "Seth come on..."

It was Seth's turn to unleash the puppy dog eyes.

"Oh god damn it." Dean flipped to the channel that they both knew would have the stupid show on. "Happy now?"

"Mhm." Seth adjusted himself so he was laying down with his head in Dean's lap. Dean's fingers started stroking his hair. He hated Christmas specials, but they were a little easier to endure when watched like this.

* * *

As it turned out, the fact that they only showed up with two pies did go completely unnoticed. Roman's family, his mother in particular, had cooked enough food to feed a large army. Seth had put the pies he had brought on the table, got himself some eggnog and started mingling around the house. Dean stayed with Jimmy and Tyson Kidd near the food. Eating had been the main thing Dean had been doing this whole holiday season. Seth had teased him about turning into a blob that they were going to have to roll out to the ring when they wrestled, but Dean hadn't been bothered by it. He said he would be the happiest blob if that turned out to be the case.

Most of the other guests had gathered in the living room. Roman's siblings and cousins had sent their kids to go play in the spare room that Roman had set some games up in. Roman himself was sitting with his family, wearing a Santa hat on his head, laughing at some joke his brother made. Dolph, Finn, Cesaro and Sami Zayn were sitting too, but they were watching The Christmas Story more than actually talking to anyone. Finn and Dolph looked particuarly cozy with one another. The two of them had been growing even closer since Finn had come up to the main roster. Natalya, Naomi, Tamina, Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes were talking quietly in the corner, all of them wearing reindeer headbands. Seth made a point of getting past them without being noticed. He was not putting one of those things on. He wasn't nearly drunk enough to willingly look that stupid.

He went upstairs, finding AJ standing in the hallway looking into the room the kids were playing in. "What's up?" he asked as he joined her. He looked to where she was, finding that Paige was actually playing Twister with the kids. "Why aren't you in there? I thought you never turned down a game like that."

She shrugged. "Sometimes I just like to watch." She slid an arm around his waist and pulled him in close. "Wanna know a secret?"

"Sure." Seth put an arm around her and squeezed her in return. "Tell me."

"You have to keep it a secret though."

"I think I can do a better job than you on that."

She pouted at him, though that didn't last long. It wasn't like he was wrong. "I caught Roman and Randy making out in the storage closet when were taping that last Raw."

"Oh god." Seth shook his head. Natalya's persistence in setting those two up had finally paid off. "How long has that been going on?"

AJ shrugged. "Considering that nobody really knows about it, not very long. Randy didn't even come to the party, so I don't think it's serious."

"Well he does got his own family to see." He gestured towards Paige, who was still playing with the kids and oblivious to their entire conversation. "Are you guys seeing your parents?"

"Hers are arriving tomorrow," AJ confirmed. "Mine can't make it."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We visited them on Thanksgiving." AJ shifted her weight from foot to foot. "And my cousin's getting married in a couple of months so we'll see them then." She bit her bottom lip, thinking her next words over carefully before saying them. "Do you think she'd marry me?"

Seth blinked, not expecting to hear those words. "What?"

"Paige." AJ glared at him for the question. "Do you think she'd marry me?"

"Well I mean, she loves you. So I think she would."

"But she's always so like...skittish and shit whenever we even watch wedding shit on TV."

"Yeah well, I mean, she's young." Seth realized how that sounded and rushed to cover his ass. "Not that you're old. She's just younger and like...I don't think she's wrapped her head around truly settling down." He saw the disappointed look on AJ's face and felt like an asshole about it. "Talk to her about it. Ease her into it. Make it a long engagement. Naomi and Jimmy did. Hell, Nattie and Tyson's was even longer than that. You guys don't have to rush anything."

"I know." AJ slipped out of Seth's grasp and folded her arms over her chest. "I just...I don't know. I just feel like she's the one. This is who I want to marry and have babies with." She smiled to herself. "Think Roman would be the sperm doner if we ever asked?"

"Roman? What about me?" Seth let out a hufff. "Why can't I be the baby daddy? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. Roman's just prettier than you are."

"What? I'm gorgeous god dammit!"

"Hey, dumb and dumber! Why don't you come help me over here?"

Seth and AJ looked over to see that the kids were in the midst of ambushing Paige and wrestling her to the floor. Seth snickered while AJ jumped right in. "Don't worry baby. We'll save you."

"We? Why do I -" Seth stopped at the look AJ gave him. "Alright yeah. We'll save you."

* * *

While all the other guests slowly left, Dean and Seth stayed behind to help Roman clean up. By the time they were done it was so late that Roman offered to let them stay in the guest room so they wouldn't have to drive home while so tired. They accepted, and now they were huddled under the blankets, Dean laying his head on Seth's chest while having an arm and leg thrown over him as well. "I think I finally did it," he said with a frown.

"Hmmm?" Seth's fingers kept playing with his hair.

"I think I finally ate too much." Dean tilted his head back to see that Seth was trying to hold back his laughter. "It's not funny asshole. My stomach really hurts."

"Poor baby." Seth's attempts at sympathy didn't stop his laughter. Dean thought about nailing him in the gut, but that was going to take more energy than he wanted to use. Instead he turned his head and bit his nipple, making the younger man yelp. "Yeah that's right. You deserved it."

"Did not." Despite the denial, Seth didn't try to get Dean back for that. Instead he kept playing with his hair while the fingers on his other hand started slowly trailing up and down his arm. "Hey Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"AJ and I were talking and uh...it got me thinking about some stuff."

"Is it the group sex idea again?"

"What? No!" Seth moved Dean on to his back so he could sit up and look him in the eyes. "She was um...talking about proposing to Paige and stuff. She wants to have kids and stuff."

That was the first Dean had ever heard of this, but he didn't find himself surprised. "Yeah? Think Paige will go for it?"

Seth shrugged. "Don't know. But I was just uh...well I mean...kind of got me thinking like I said." He swallowed hard, looking scared as shit, which was freaking Dean out. "Do you um...do you ever think about it? Getting married, having kids?" He barely gave Dean a chance to answer before he was stumbling over himself to say more. "Not like any time soon. That's not like, what I'm saying. I just...you know...whenever you would like want..."

Dean decided to spare Seth the pain of still speaking by pulling him down for a kiss. The truth was he hadn't really thought of all that stuff. Marriage, kids...that had always felt like a fate destined for everyone else around him. And that had suited him fine. He hadn't wanted it. But now it was different. He still didn't feel ready for it. He sure as hell could tell Seth wasn't either. But he could see it. He could see the stupid ceremony they would have to have because AJ would murder them if they eloped. He could see a house with kids and a couple more dogs and all that god damn shit. He could see it all because it was with Seth. Seth was the only one he could ever want it with.

They broke the kiss, Seth swallowing hard and staring at him with wide eyes. "Was that a yes?"

"Yeah." Dean brushed his thumb over Seth's lower lip. "Whenever you actually ask for real it's uh...it's a yes."

Seth grinned before leaning down and kissing him once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels so weird having this done now. Between the writing of it and the months is spent sitting in my brain, I've been attached to this story for almost a year. I want to thank everyone for reading and reviewing and all the like. You're all awesome.


End file.
